How Do You Understand Dog Bite Law?
Understanding dog bite law is important for both pet owners and victims of a dog bite. The Centers for Disease Control reports that there are more than 4.7 million people bitten by dogs each year. The most likely place to be bitten is on the dog’s turf, more than one half of these dog bites occur on the dog owner’s property. Many of the dog bites result in injury, annually 800,000 of these bites require medical attention. The Insurance Information Institute estimates that the average cost of a dog bite claim to the insurance companies is $24,000. A dog bite incident is clearly an expensive risk, it is important that you understand the law. The first step to understanding the law pertaining to a dog bite is to determine if your state has a specific animal liability statute. The States are split in their law concerning dog bites. The first legal category pertains to the States who hold to the common law doctrine of the “one bite” rule. The rule essentially means that the dog owner must h
