This video discusses the legal responsibilities of dog owners in dog bite cases. It explains the concept of the "one bite rule" and how certain breeds may not be afforded this protection. Additionally, it highlights that injuries from non-bite incidents, such as a dog knocking someone over, can also be grounds for legal action.
The "one bite rule" means that a dog owner is not held liable for their dog's first bite unless they knew the dog had dangerous tendencies. After the first incident, the owner can be held responsible for any further attacks.
Not all dog bites are treated the same under the law. Even non-bite incidents, like a dog knocking someone down, can lead to liability if the injury is significant.
If you are bitten by a dog, seek medical attention immediately and document the incident. It's also important to report the bite to local authorities and consult with a lawyer to understand your rights.
Dog bite cases are very interesting. We have statutory law that deals with what a dog hunter is responsible for, but our basic common law actually goes back to Leviticus in the Bible in the law of domesticated animals. Dogs are considered to be domesticated animals. And every domesticated animal that harms someone is given one chance, whether it's an ox bull or a dog, so owners of dogs aren't really put on notice that their dog is dangerous until it bites someone first. Now in recent history we have some exceptions to that and there's a list of dogs that are considered dangerous, have dangerous propensities, and those animals you keep at your own risk, they're not given the one bite chance. Now what people really don't know about dog bite law is we think of dogs that are vicious. We see maybe not as many cases but we often see cases where a dog is mischievous and so when you have a dog that's just too friendly and it knocks a seven-year-old woman down and she breaks her hip, that's covered by the law too. So you have to really look at it from the aspect of not only what you expect, which is a dog bite, a vicious dog, a dog that has attacked other dogs or is known to attack others or the vet maybe has contained in the record somewhere that this dog could be dangerous, needs a muzzle, but also a dog that jumps on someone and knocks them down and causes injury and that happens, those cases are good cases too. So if you have one of those problems let us know, we'll help you with it.
