Per this postingwhat are the legal responsibilities of the owner of a dog that attacks your dog at a dog park?
Reaching out to the community for my friend and his dog. #Justice4Perry
It all depends on the specific facts of the case. Did the owner misrepresent himself? Did the owner act in a negligent manner allowing the bigger dog to attack the smaller dog when it could have been prevented? Has the owner’s dog attacked other dogs in the past?
Even well trained dogs can act unpredictably, and if the owner did everything he could to prevent an attack or mitigate it that would work in his favor, but it sounds like the owner wasn’t a responsible dog owner in this case.
I would think someone could sue the negligent owner for actual damages, such as vet bills and perhaps even pain and suffering, in small claims court if nothing else.
Note that it could well be the case that the cost for a lawyer and the value of your time in pursuing the case could well exceed any money you eventually get out of the defendant.
State law may vary, but the general rule for dog attacks is the “one bite” rule. Basically without any negligence on the part of the owner, a dog gets “one bite” free of liability for the owner. If the dog has previously bitten, then he has known propensity for biting and the owner becomes strictly liable for any future bites.
If it as you say an attack that happened at a ‘dog park’ many dog parks have rules people agree to to use the park. Accessing the park implies your intent to agree to the posted rules. Usually there are clauses such as ‘the owner of the aggressor dog will be responsible for any vet bills’ My first step would be to contact the dog park and ask for their assistance in resolving this matter. At a minimum the negligent owner should be banned from future use of the park.
Criminally there may be limitations as to what will happen. Civilly it’d be completely normal for the victim dog’s owner to sue and win.
Small claims court is cheap. Neither party is allowed to be represented in court by a lawyer, although you can consult with a lawyer outside of court. The statutory limit for small claims court is usually something like $5,000.
Dog park rules are legally binding in court? Really? Or, is it more likely that if you don’t follow the rules you can be trespassed and little else?
If the dog park is a municipal park, I would assume the rules may well be legal statutes for the area.
Legal advice is best suited to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Can he hang around the dog park and wait for her to come back around? Legal remedies (which he does have, the other owner will be made to pay the vet bill, at a minimum) don’t mean squat if he can’t find out who it was.
I dunno. We can’t guarantee the behavior of another human being in public much less mixing strange animals and expecting everything to go well. You pays your money and you takes your chances.
I’m a mite ticked recently with people whose animals cause problems and their clueless owners shrug and say, “I didn’t know he would do that.” The whole world is unpredictable and we need to make informed decisions and accept some responsibility for them.
In an honest world the owners would communicate and costs of expenses to the attacked dog’s owner would be dealt with. I despise the idea of having to sue. And in this case, while I don’t deny there has been stress and suffering, money doesn’t compensate for that. Counseling for the owner? Hmm. I don’t think so.
Maybe he can encounter her again and work this out without the extra expenses of lawyers and the eventual extra laws this sort of thing causes.