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Table of Dog Bite Strict Liability Statutes

Cynthia Hodges, J.D., LL.M., M.A.

Publish Date: 2012
Place of Publication: Michigan State University College of Law

Printable Version

Approximately 36 states and Washington D.C. have enacted statutes that make dog owners strictly liable for any damages their dogs cause if they bite or attack someone. This means that dog owners are liable for injuries their dogs inflict regardless of whether the owner was at fault, negligent, or even had any prior knowledge of the dog’s vicious propensities. However, there are exceptions to strict liability in some states for dogs that are provoked by the victim (i.e. purposefully goaded into attack). Also, dogs that are used by military or law enforcement agencies to investigate crimes or apprehend suspects are often excepted from strict liability under the statutes.

State	Citation & Link	Dogs Included	Type of Damage Included	Places Included	Provocation Exception	Other Exceptions
Alabama	AL ST 3-6-1 AL ST 3-6-3	Any dog	Bite or injury	A place where victim has a legal right to be	Provocation	If owner proves that s/he had no knowledge of any circumstances indicating dog was vicious, dangerous or mischievous, then s/he is only liable for actual expenses
Alaska
Arizona	AZ ST 11-1025 AZ ST 11-1027	Any dog	Bite only	Public place, or Private place where person has legal right to be, including dog owner's property	Provocation Dog used in military or police work if defending itself from a harassing or provoking act	Dog used in military or police work if dog was assisting in apprehending a suspect, investigation of a crime, execution of a warrant, or defense of a person
Arkansas
California	Cal Civ Code 3342	Any dog	Bite only	Public place, or Private place where person has legal right to be, including dog owner's property	Dog used in military or police work if defending itself from a harassing or provoking act, or Contributory negligence (See Johnson v. McMahan, 68 Cal.App.4th 173, 176 (1998))	Person injured was trespassing (not lawfully on owner’s property) Dog used in military or police work if dog was assisting in apprehending a suspect, in the investigation of a crime, in the execution of a warrant, or in the defense of a person Assumption of the risk (See Johnson v. McMahan, 68 Cal.App.4th 173, 176 (1998))
Colorado	CO ST 13-21-124	Any dog	Bite, injury, death	Public place, or Private place where person has legal right to be, including dog owner's property	Provocation	Person injured unlawfully on public or private property; Person injured on property of dog owner if there is a "no trespassing" or "beware of dog" sign; If dog is performing duties for peace officer or military personnel; If person injured is a veterinary health care worker, dog groomer, humane agency staff person, professional dog handler, trainer, or dog show judge performing his or her duties; or If dog is working as a hunting, herding, farm or ranch dog, or predator control dog on the property of or under the control of its owner.
Connecticut	CT ST 22-357	Any dog	Any damage to person or property	Presumably any place	Provocation - victim was teasing, tormenting or abusing the dog	Person injured was trespassing or committing other tort
Delaware	9 Del.C. § 913 (formerly DE ST T. 7 Sec. 1711)	Any dog	Any injury, death or loss to person or property	Presumably any place	Provocation - victim was teasing, tormenting or abusing the dog	Person injured was committing a trespass or criminal offense on owner's property, or was committing a criminal offense against any person
D.C.	DC ST 8-1808 DC ST 8-1812	Dogs at large only	Any injury	Presumably any place	Not provided	Not provided
Florida	FL ST 767.04	Any dog	Bite	Public place, or Private place where person has legal right to be, including dog owner's property	Not provided	Contributory negligence Display of "Bad Dog" sign on owner premises
Georgia	GA ST 51-2-7	Vicious or dangerous animals who are at large due to owner's negligence	Any injury	Anywhere but dog owner’s property (dog must be “at large”)	Provocation	Not provided
Hawaii	HI ST 663-9 and 663-9.1	Any animal	Any personal or property damage	Any place	Provocation - victim teased, tormented, or abused the dog	Person injured was trespassing Other justification
Idaho
Illinois	IL ST CH 510 Sec. 5/16	Any animal	Any injury or attack	Any place where victim has legal right to be	Provocation	Person injured was not peacefully conducting him or herself
Indiana	IN ST 15-20-1-3 (formerly IN ST 15-5-12-1)	Any dog	Bite	Person is in a location where required to be to discharge a duty imposed by the: laws of Indiana; laws of the United States; or postal regulations of the United States	Provocation	Person injured was not peacefully conducting him or herself
Iowa	IA ST 351.28	Any dog	All damages done by the dog if dog caught in the act of worrying, maiming, or killing a domestic animal, or the dog is attacking or attempting to bite a person	Presumably any place	Not specifically provided	Dog affected with hydrophobia Party damaged is doing an unlawful act, directly contributing to the injury dog not caught in the act of worrying, maiming, or killing a domestic animal, or dog was not attacking or attempting to bite a person
Kansas
Kentucky	KY ST 258.235(4)	Any dog	Any damage to a person, livestock, or other property	Presumably any place	Not provided	Not provided
Louisiana	LA C.C. Art. 2321	Any animal	Any damages for injuries to persons or property that owner could have prevented and that were not provoked by victim	Presumably any place	Provocation	Owner could not have prevented damage
Maine	ME ST. T.7 3961	Any dog	Any damage to person or property	Any place but owner’s property	Not provided	Fault of the person injured may reduce damages if his or her fault exceeds owner’s fault
Maryland
Massachusetts	MA ST 140 Sec. 155	Any dog	Any damage to person or property	Presumably any place	Person injured was teasing, tormenting or abusing dog.	Person injured was committing a trespass or other tort,
Michigan	MI ST 287.351	Any dog	Bite	Public place, or Private place where person has legal right to be, including dog owner's property	Provocation	Trespass - person injured was not lawfully on property
Minnesota	MN ST 347.22	Any dog	Any injury or attack	Any place where victim has legal right to be	Provocation	Person injured was not acting peaceably Person injured was not in a place where s/he had a legal right to be
Mississippi
Missouri	MO ST 273.036	Any dog	Bite to person, or Damage to property or livestock	Public place, or Private place where person has legal right to be, including dog owner's property	Provocation	Contributory fault
Montana	MT ST 27-1-715	Any dog located within an incorporated city or town	Bite to person	Public place located within an incorporated city or town, or Private place where person has legal right to be, including dog owner's property, located within an incorporated city or town	Provocation	Person bitten was in a place where s/he did not have a legal right to be Person bitten was outside of an incorporated city or town
Nebraska	NE ST 54-601	Any dog	Damage to person, firm or corporation	Presumably any place where person has legal right to be	Not provided	Trespasser excluded
Nevada
New Hampshire	NH ST 466:19	Any dog	Damage to person or property	Presumably any place where person injured had a legal right to be	Not specifically provided	Person injured was committing a trespass or other tort
New Jersey	NJ ST 4:19-16	Any dog	Bite to person	Public place, or Private place where person has legal right to be, including dog owner's property	Not provided	Trespass - person injured was not lawfully on property
New Mexico
New York	NY Ag & Mkts Sec. 123	Dangerous dogs only (dog previously declared "dangerous")	Injury caused to a person, companion, farm or domestic animal	Any place	Not provided	Dog was coming to the aid or defense of a person during a murder, robbery, burglary, arson, rape, criminal sexual act, or kidnapping within the dwelling or upon the property of the dog's owner
North Carolina	N.C.G.S.A. § 67-4.4	Dangerous dogs only (dog previously declared "dangerous")	Injuries or property damage inflicted upon a person, property, or animal	Presumably any place	Not provided	Not provided
North Dakota
Ohio	OH ST 955.28	Any dog	Any injury, death, or loss to person or property	Presumably any place where person had a legal right to be	Person injured was teasing, tormenting, or abusing the dog on the owner's property	Person injured was committing criminal trespass or another criminal offense (other than a minor misdemeanor) on the property of the owner, or a criminal offense other than a minor misdemeanor against any person
Oklahoma	OK ST T. 4 Sec. 42.1	Any dog	Any damages	Any place where victim has legal right to be	Provocation	Not provided
Oregon
Pennsylvania	PA ST 3 P.S. § 459-502	Any dog	Any cost for medical treatment	Any place	Provocation (see Commonwealth v. Hake, 738 A.2nd 46 (Pa Commw. Ct. 1999).	Not provided
Rhode Island	RI ST 4-13-16	Any dog	Assault, bite, or other injury to any person	While traveling the highway or outside of the enclosure of the dog's owner or keeper	Not provided	Dog was in enclosure on owner's property or was not traveling the public highway
South Carolina	SC ST 47-3-110	Any dog	Bite or other attack	Public place, or Private place where person has legal right to be, including dog owner's property	Provocation	Trespass - victim not in a place where s/he has a legal right to be
South Dakota
Tennessee	TN ST 44-8-413	Dogs running at large/not under reasonable control	Any damages	Public place, or Private place where person has legal right to be	Injured person was enticing, disturbing, alarming, harassing, or otherwise provoking the dog	Military or police dog Trespass upon the private, nonresidential property of the dog's owner Dog protecting the owner or innocent person Dog was securely confined (i.e., kennel, crate, etc.) If dog causes damage while on its owner’s property, then claimant must show owner knew of vicious propensities.
Texas
Utah	UT ST 18-1-1	Any dog	Any injury	Presumably any place	Not provided	State, county, city, town, and peace officers not liable for injury committed by a dog when: Dog has been trained to assist in law enforcement, and Injury occurs while the dog is reasonably and carefully being used in the apprehension, arrest, or location of a suspected offender, or Injury occurs in maintaining or controlling the public order.
Vermont
Virginia
Washington	WA ST 16.08.040 WA ST 16.08.060	Any dog	Bite	Public place, or Private place where person has legal right to be	Provocation	Trespass
West Virginia	WV ST 19-20-13	Dogs running at large	Any damage to person or property	Presumably any place but owner's property	Not provided	Dog on owner's property
Wisconsin	WI ST 174.02	Any dog	Any injury to a person, domestic animal or property	Presumably any place	Comparative negligence (See Becker v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 141 Wis.2d 804, 808, 416 N.W.2d 906 (Ct. App. 1987))	Dog used in law enforcement
Wyoming

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