How Does Leash Use Affect a Dog Bite Case?

Owners of dogs that cause harm to others, are strictly liable for the damages caused by the dog. That means that there is an “expedited path” to showing liability because a victim doesn’t need to show that the owner of the dig necessarily did anything wrong.

So long as someone owned the dog, and the dog caused an injury, the owner is liable.

What About Leashes?

Many people wonder how leashes come into play—that is, whether someone who has a dog that injured someone else, can still be sued, and thus, is still liable for the damages caused by the dog, even if the dog was on a leash.

Dogs Off Leash

Almost every county and city in Massachusetts, has laws making it illegal to allow a dog to be off of a leash in any public place. So, if an unleashed dog causes an injury, there could be two theories of recovery.

The first, is the strict liability for the dog causing an injury.

The second would be under a theory called negligence per se, which is where someone causes someone else an injury through negligent behavior, while also violating a rule, law, ordinance or statute-in this case, the laws requiring dogs be under the control of a leash.

Dogs On the Leash

However, even if someone’s dog was on a leash, and even if the dog was fully controlled at the time it injured or bit someone, the owner can still be held liable.

This is, again, because dog liability is strict liability—the owner need not have made any mistake, to be held liable.

There is one way that a leash could impact a victim’s ability to recover from the leashed dog. That’s because Massachusetts law allows a dog owner to use as a defense, the victim’s own negligence or the victim’s having provoked the dog.

So, imagine a fully leashed and controlled dog, and you walk up to the dog, put your hands in its face, or try to pet it without asking for permission. If the dog bites or injures you, and you sue, the owner could use the fact that you voluntarily walked up to, and approached, a leashed dog, as evidence that you caused or contributed to the injury or bite.

Note that the “provoking” defense doesn’t apply to children under the age of seven. That means that dog owners who have their dogs on leashes, need to be extra cautious around young children, even if those children provoke or walk up to the leashed dog.

Not Just Bites

A leashed dog can cause other injuries, other than bites. A leashed dog can playfully jump up on an older, or more unstable person causing them to fall. A leashed dog could still scratch someone or knock a young child over.

Dog bites and injuries can be very serious. Call the Boston personal injury lawyers at The Law Office of Joseph Linnehan, Jr. today at 617-275-4200 if you were injured by someone else’s dog.

Sources:

mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-law-about-animals

boston.gov/departments/animal-care-and-control/rules-and-regulations-owning-pet