A Dog Owner’s Liability for Dog Bites
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It seems that nearly every family owns a dog. The law imposes certain obligations in connection with the ownership of a dog. If these duties and responsibilities are not met, liability can result from the ownership of a dog. This is true especially with regard to dog bites.
Unfortunately, many cases we see involve dogs that bite children. This is especially true in town where families live closer together and where children come in frequent contact with neighborhood dogs.
We have all heard the old adage about every dog being entitled to “one bite.” This adage is not literally true, at least not in North Carolina. To hold a dog owner or dog keeper liable or responsible for injury done to a human being there must be evidence that the animal had previously indicated its dangerous propensities and that the dog owner or dog keeper had knowledge of it. The victim does not have to show that the dog bit someone else earlier; they only have to show that the dog had demonstrated its vicious inclinations by trying to bite someone and that the owner or keeper of the dog had knowledge of it.
Knowledge of one attack by a dog is generally held sufficient to charge the owner with all of the dog’s misconduct thereafter.
It is not necessary that the victim of a dog bite prove that the owner or keeper of the dog was negligent in permitting the dog to run loose or in letting it escape. The liability for the dog arises from the mere “keeping” of a dangerous animal.
If a victim of a dog bite or the victim’s parents in the case of a child, can prove that the owner of the dog had reason to know of the dog’s dangerous nature whether from previous dog bites or otherwise, the victim can recover from the dog owner for all personal injury damages including pain and suffering, medical expenses, lost wages, and for disfiguring scars. Unfortunately, the cases we see many times involve children who are bitten in the face by a dog. Of course, the damages for these scars to the face of a young child are enormous. Therefore, the property owner’s potential liability could be huge.
Not only is the dog owner potentially liable for compensatory damages for personal injury, in certain circumstances, the courts have held dog owners liable for punitive damages as well. Punitive damages are awarded for only two purposes: to punish, and to set an example. There is no definite limit to the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded. Such damages do not bare a direct relationship to the amount of actual compensatory damages.
Punitive damages can be awarded when the dog owner’s wrong amounted to a higher level of misconduct than mere negligence. Examples of conduct which give rise to punitive damages is conduct which shows willfulness, wantonness, or recklessness that indicates at least an indifference to or a disregard for the rights and safety of others.
In Hunt vs. Hunt, a 1987 case, our North Carolina Court of Appeals held that it would be proper for a jury to consider punitive damages to be paid by the dog owner in a case which the evidence showed that the dog owner’s dog was running loose with the consent of the dog owner at the time that the dog bit the claimant and that the dog owner had knowledge that on two prior occasions the dog had tried to bite someone. The Court of Appeals felt that this evidence was strong enough to allow punitive damages to be accessed against the dog owner if the jury felt such damages were proper.
Punitive damages can be especially problematic for a dog owner because, as a practical matter, there is no fixed limit to the amount which a jury can set in awarding punitive damages. The jury is free to award such amount of punitive damages as, in its sole discretion, it feels is proper.
Since the liability for a dog can be extremely high, it is important for dog owners to be very careful not to let their dogs run free. This is true even when the dog owner has no reason to suspect that the dog has dangerous propensities.
Homeowner’s insurance policies usually cover and pay for the liability of a dog owner when their dog bites another person.