California Dog Bite Laws

California is one of the states with a dog bite law.

There are 3 basic statutes that govern the liability related to dog bite injuries.

Those three statutes are:

Liability based on the dog bite

Liability based on the knowledge of a dangerous animals dangerousness

Liability based on negligence

Liability based on the Dog Bite

Under this statute, the owner of the dog is liable for any injuries caused by his/her dog while in a public place or lawfully in a private place, including the property of the dog owner.

This is regardless of previous viciousness or with (or lack of) knowledge of dogs viciousness.

The victim of the dog bite is lawfully on the property of the dog owner if:

He/she is performing a duty on the dog owners property

He/she is in the property upon invitation of the owner

The statute is designed to prevent dogs from being a danger to the community by putting the burden of dog bites to those who own dogs.

Liability based on the knowledge of an animals dangerousness

Under this statute, the keeper or owner of an animal that is dangerous by nature or any animal that have dangerous propensities will be held liable for injuries or damages to others regardless if he/she has been negligent or not.

In this case, negligence does not have to be proven. The wrongdoing will be the act of keeping a dangerous animal.

The two elements of this statute are prior dangerous behavior of the dog or animal, and owners knowledge of the dogs danger.

If the first bite was fully justified, like the attack was provoked and was just a natural reaction by the dog, then it will not be considered as a prior dangerous behavior.

The victim of the prior bite must also be a person and not another animal based on the assumption that a dog that fights with other animals will not necessarily attack a human.

Liability based on Negligence

Under California laws, a victim of a dog bite injury can recover damages from a person whose negligence caused the incident to happen.

Negligence can be in the form of mishandling a dog, ineffectively or failing to control the dog, putting the dog in conditions where the dog can cause harm or damage, or violating existing animal control laws.

Liability based on negligence or failure to control the dog is not dependent on the dogs prior dangerous behavior or upon the persons knowledge of the dogs danger.

The law recognizes that even ordinary gentle animals can be dangerous in certain situations.

An example would be a dog roaming the public streets unleashed; if an injury or damage is caused by the dog, then the owner has been negligent by violating the leash law and unless other evidences are presented, the owner should be held liable.

Get Help

If you are a victim of a dog bite injury, you should get legal help to know your options.

The dog bite attorney you will hire should be knowledgeable with the dog bite laws under the state you live in.

You have read the best review article categorized by real estate attorney and the title California Dog Bite Laws. You can bookmark or spread this post by using this URL https://realestateattorney-tips.blogspot.com/2013/01/california-dog-bite-laws.html. Thank You!