Dog Bite Accident Lawyers San Bernardino

Your Rights as a San Bernardino Dog Bite Victim 

California law protects victims of dog bites by entitling them to financial compensation for their injuries. If you sustained injuries in a dog attack in San Bernardino, you likely have the right to hold the dog’s owner (and potentially others) financially responsible for the trauma and loss you’ve suffered. 

Owners Strictly Liable for Dog Bites

By California statute,  “the owner of any dog is liable for the damages suffered by any person who is bitten by the dog while in a public place or lawfully in a private place,” including the owner’s property, “regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness.” This is known as a strict liability law. A dog owner must pay you damages for your dog bite injuries even if the owner took reasonable steps to keep you safe from the dog and had no warning that it would attack you. 

This strict liability does not apply, however, if any of the following are true:

• A police K9 bit you in the course of its legitimate law enforcement activities 
• You were trespassing at the time of the attack (i.e., you were not “lawfully” in the place where the attack occurred)
• You provoked the attack, such as by taunting or threatening the dog
• You knowingly and intentionally assumed the risk of being bitten, such as when a dog trainer sustains a bite during a training session

Even if the strict liability rule does not apply to your case, however, you may still have the right to seek damages under one of the other two theories below. 

Liability for Negligent Conduct 

The dog’s owner and others who have custody of a dog can also face liability for your dog bite injuries if they acted negligently in controlling or failing to safeguard you from a dog they knew, or should have known, was dangerous. For example, you may have a claim for damages against a dog owner, dog walker, or kennel operator if they allowed the dog that bit you to run off-leash in a public place, knowing the dog had a tendency to get aggressive with strangers. You might also have a claim against a property owner liable for permitting a dog to roam free on a commercial premises (such as a store or restaurant) where it bit you.  

Liability for Intentional Conduct

An owner or caretaker of a dog might also face liability to you for intentionally allowing or encouraging the dog to harm you. These bites happen less often than others, but may occur, for example, if a dog owner directs a trained guard dog to attack someone during an altercation or as a means of unlawful intimidation.