Pets most commonly, dogs cause injuries in a variety of
ways, biting, clawing, jumping & knocking people down, running &
barking at people & making them lose their balance running into the street
& causing vehicle accidents. A few states have laws making dog owners
liable for any injuries their dogs cause away from the dog only if the owner
knew or should have known that the dog was likely to cause the type of injury
that occurred. A dog owner is usually covered by home owner’s or renter’s
insurance for injuries caused by the dog & business owner is covered by
business liability insurance for any injury caused by animal kept on the
premises by the owner or any employee.
In a
claim for injuries caused by a dog, you & the insurance company will
discuss whether the dog owner knew or should have known of a danger presented
by the dog. The answer usually lies with the dogs’ past behavior. If the injury
is a bite, & you can find any evidence that without provocation the dog had
bitten, snapped, or lunged at anyone before, then you have gone a long way
toward establishing a good claim. If the dog is of a “fighting breed”, you may
be able to recover compensation even though you can’t prove any prior incidents
of actual biting or snapping at humans. If your injury was caused by a dog
jumping up & knocking you over, evidence that the dog frequently jumps up
is enough, whether or not anyone has been knocked down before. If the dog is
large, that too should make the owner aware of the danger, especially to small
or unsteady people & if an accident was caused by an animal running into
street, the fact that it has run out into the street before but the owner still
lets the animal loose is good evidence of liability by the owner. Accidents
also occur when vehicles run into farm or ranch animals that have wandered onto
a road. Generally, an owner is liable for accidents caused by an animal that
stays beyond the confines of the farm or ranch property.
However, if the animal
is being herded along or across a road that has signs warning that animals are
lawfully present, it may be the driver who is responsible for an accident. If
the animal is part of a working farm or ranch, the owner’s business liability
insurance will deal with the accident. If the animal is not part of a business,
then the property owner’s home insurance should handle the claim.
