When Is a Dog Owner Liable if Their Dog Bites Someone?

Premises Liability: Can Property Owners Be Liable for Injuries Caused by a Renter’s Dog?

When your dog bites somebody on your property (whether a guest or trespasser), you may be responsible for paying for their injuries under dog bite law. But what happens if someone else’s dog bites another person on your property? Most renters in California are dog owners who don’t have homeowner’s insurance policies to cover injuries caused by their dogs. For that reason, landlords can be liable for damages resulting from their tenants’ dogs. Under dog bite law, landlords have responsibilities in dog bite cases, including ensuring that their property is safe and that tenants’ dogs do not pose a threat to others.

Unlike a dog owner’s liability for dog bites, a landlord is not automatically accountable should a renter’s dog bite a stranger in a lawfully public area. This signifies that a property owner’s legal responsibility for dog attacks is not a strict liability tort. Premises liability can be proven by a two-part test:

1. A landlord had actual or circumstantial knowledge of the dog’s vicious nature.
2. The property owner had sufficient control over the situation to prevent a dog attack. For instance, a landlord should have insisted that a tenant remove a dangerous dog from the dog owner’s property.

In 1995, the Donchin v. Guerrero case went before the Court of Appeal in California. While on a walk, a woman and her dog were attacked by two Rottweilers who had escaped from a neighboring apartment. “Jane Doe” sued the dog owner and the apartment building’s landlord, alleging that both knew that the Rottweilers had dangerous propensities. To prove that the landlord and dog owner could control the issue before it occurred, Jane Doe presented sworn evidence from a neighbor and postal worker, citing that the landlord knew the dog had vicious propensities. Dog bite victims can seek compensation from landlords if it is proven that the landlord was aware of the dangerous nature of the tenant’s dog.

She also used a dog bite expert to introduce more evidence, stating that because the dogs had dangerous tendencies toward the mailman and neighbor, they would most likely act similarly toward others. To that end, the injured person could seek damages from the landlord, who was aware of the dangerous nature of his tenant’s two Rottweilers.

What Standard of Care Do Dog Owners Owe to Others?

Even though the odds of dying from a dog attack are 1 in 70,000, dog bites are common, with more than 4.5 million related cases reported annually. When someone enters your property, they do not expect to be injured because a homeowner has a duty to utilize a reasonable standard of care. It’s a property owner’s or renter’s responsibility to maintain a reasonably safe environment for anyone, guest or otherwise, entering the building.

This includes keeping animals with a vicious propensity away from visitors or putting up warning signs about dangerous dogs. Codified animal control laws exist in many local municipalities and states. For example, if a dog owner fails to keep their dog on a leash as per city code, they are strictly liable for the resulting dog bite injuries. In some states, the one-bite rule applies, meaning dog owners are only liable if they knew of the dog’s aggressive behavior or were negligent.

Stringent liability claims in civil cases imply that an injured complainant does not have to prove the defendant’s acts of negligence to recover compensation. If you have liability concerns should your dog bite another person, consider a renter, homeowner, or pet insurance policy that may be able to cover animal bite incidents on your private property.

Dog owner liability varies under different legal standards, including strict liability and the one-bite rule.