Dog Bite Liability Laws in PA

If you are a dog bite victim in Pennsylvania, it’s important to understand how dog bite liability laws in PA protect and affect your ability to seek compensation for your injuries. Pennsylvania Dog bite lawyers consider three areas of liability when assessing injuries and damages to build your dog bite case.

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Negligent Liability

To collect damages other than medical expenses, your dog bite lawyer has to prove that the dog’s owner was negligent. Dog owners have a responsibility to prevent their dogs from hurting others, and when they fail to do so, they can be found negligent and liable.

Negligence Elements

Pennsylvania courts require the victim to prove the elements of negligence, including:

• Duty of Care: The dog owner must have owed you a legal duty, meaning, taking actionable steps to prevent the dog from biting or attacking, like keeping it on a leash or in a fenced yard.
• Breach of Duty: You must prove the owner breached the owed duty. For example, providing evidence that the dog was unleashed in an unauthorized area or had a history of aggressive behavior by the owner’s negligence.
• Causation: You must prove the owner’s negligence was directly responsible for the bite, meaning it wouldn’t have happened had they acted accordingly.
• Damages: You must have incurred actual losses like medical and therapy expenses, income, and property damage because of the dog bite.

Proving Negligence

There must be evidence to prove the owner’s negligence regarding a dog bite. Some examples of evidence include:

• Video surveillance or security tapes that the owner did not properly secure or control the dog.
• Photo evidence from the scene.
• Witness testimonies of how the owner allowed the bite to occur.

Bearing the burden of proving negligence in a dog bite case can be overwhelming, which is one of the biggest reasons to hire an experienced personal injury attorney to help navigate your case through the complex legal system.

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Dangerous Animals

If a Pennsylvania dog owner harbors a dangerous dog with a history of vicious behavior and unprovoked attacks, they can be charged with a minor criminal charge called a summary offense in addition to being liable for resulting bite injuries.

How Does Pennsylvania Define a Dangerous Dog?

Pennsylvania defines a dangerous dog as one that has:

• Caused severe injury without provocation on public or private property.
• Attacked without being provoked.
• Killed or caused severe injury to a domestic pet like a dog or cat without provocation while off the owner’s property.
• Been used in a crime.

A dangerous dog has either or both of the following:

• A history of attacking humans and/or domesticated animals without provocation.
• A disposition to attack humans and/or domesticated animals without provocation (can be proven by a single incident).

The Dangerous Dog Act does not apply to police dogs, hearing dogs for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, seeing dogs for blind people, aide dogs for people with disabilities, or farm dogs (under certain circumstances).

What Happens if the Dog Owner is Found Guilty?

If the Pennsylvania dog owner is found guilty of criminal liability, there are several requirements they need to meet, including:

• Fined as much as $500.
• Register the dog with the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement, re-registering for $1,000 annually for the rest of the dog’s life.
• Have a special microchip implanted.
• Confine the dog in a proper enclosure or muzzle and restrain it.
• Have their dog spayed or neutered.
• Post a conspicuous sign on their property with a symbol warning children away.
• Pay court-ordered restitution to the victim.

If the owner does not comply with these requirements, or the dangerous dog reoffends by attacking another person or domesticated animal due to their negligence, misdemeanor charges can be filed. Injured bite victims can also use criminal convictions to help prove their civil cases against the owner and obtain compensation.

Your dog bite attorney can identify when a criminal case can be important evidence in a civil dog bite injury matter.

Are There Defenses PA Dog Owners Might Raise?

Owners facing liability for injuries their dogs have caused may have legal defenses. Not all dog bite cases are so black-and-white. For example, a dog owner may argue that the victim:

• Was trespassing where the dog was lawfully confined
• Was hurt by the dog after it escaped the properly fenced yard
• Was voluntarily assuming a risk (vets/animal workers)
• Was at least partly to blame for the dog bite injury

Dog owners and their insurance companies often do everything possible to avoid or minimize liability, including raising all possible defenses. Your dog bite lawyer can counter these defenses and present evidence supporting your injury claim that the owner should be liable for your injuries.

Seeking Compensation for Dog Bite Injuries? Call An Experienced Dog Bite Attorney Today

Have you sustained injuries from someone else’s dog and need legal representation? There are no upfront fees or out-of-pocket expenses to consult a personal injury lawyer in Pennsylvania.

Seek your free consultation with a dog bite attorney to determine your best legal approach for maximizing compensation in PA today.

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