Dog Bites - And Cows!

Strange stuff comes across my desk. It seems that I am a magnate for odd cases. Take for instance the guy that got trampled by another guy’s cow. Or the guy who woke up from surgery for a ripped bicep muscle only to find that his surgeon had reconnected the bicep to the wrong body part—and then denied it. You couldn’t make this stuff up. These things certainly aren’t funny but they are undeniably odd.

Anyway, I want to tell you about this cow because it raises an important point. That point is, if you own a cow, horse, dog, pet rat or any other animal it is your responsibility to make sure that no one else is injured by that animal. If someone is injured by your beast, you will likely be responsible for the damages arising from their injuries.

Let’s take dogs for example. Unlike pet rats, almost everyone loves dogs. They’re furry, cute, loyal, playful, smart, and lovable. The list goes on. I myself own two large dogs that I adore. Who wouldn’t love a dog? Aha, let me tell you who. Anyone who has been bitten by one, that’s who.

In fact, so many people have been bitten or attacked by dogs that many states and provinces have legislation dealing directly with the owner’s liability when a dog attacks another person or animal. For instance, in Ontario there is the Dog Owner’s Liability Act. This legislation makes it clear that if your dog bites another person you are automatically liable for that person’s damages. It doesn’t matter that the dog may have never attacked anyone before. No excuses. This is called strict liability.

Similar legislation exists in California under civil code 3342. In California if your dog bites someone while they are in a public place or lawfully on your property, you will be liable for the injured person’s damages. In other words, you are strictly liable.

Strict liability exists in many other states and provinces. Some of these are Alabama, Arizona, Conneticut, Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio, Florida, Minnesota, and Manitoba.  

I should mention that, even when the legislation says the owner is strictly liable, there are still defences available to dog owners. For the most part, these defences are incorporated directly into the legislation. Therefore, even if your dog has attacked a person you might not be completely responsible if the attack was provoked or if the injured person was unlawfully on your property.

Some jurisdictions do not have legislation and are called “one-bite” states, meaning that the common law provides that the owner is liable only if he knew of the dog’s aggressive tendencies. Some of the “one-bite” states are Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, and Wyoming.  In addition, some Canadian provinces do not have dog bite legislation, which means that they too are “one bite” jurisdictions.

Now, back to the cow. As it happens, the defence alleged that the cow was scared by the injured person’s dog. However, the fact is that the cow had wandered onto the injured person’s property. So, who ended up being responsible in this case. Well, it wasn’t the dog.

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