What Happens if a Dog Bites Someone on Your Property?


What Happens if a Dog Bites Someone on Your Property?

In Texas, the legal consequences of a dog bite injury can fall not only on the owner of the dog, but the owner or controller of the property where the attack occurred, as well. If a dog bites or injures someone while on your property, you could get sued by the victim in certain circumstances. A San Antonio dog bite injury attorney is here to help you get the compensation you deserve.

Property Owner Liability for a Dog Attack in Texas

Property owners and controllers in Texas, including landlords, have a legal obligation to maintain safe premises for guests and visitors. This obligation includes ensuring that the property is free from defects, hazards and potential injury risks. If a dangerous dog is on the property, the owner is responsible for protecting visitors and tenants from foreseeable attacks.

As a property owner, you are legally responsible for the safety of people who have your permission or authority to be on your premises. If you have reason to know that a dog on your property could pose a potential risk of harm to others, you become obligated to take reasonable steps to prevent a dog attack. This obligation exists whether or not the dog is yours.

For example, if you own a dog that has bitten someone in the past, you must take steps to prevent a second or subsequent dog bite injury, such as keeping the dog contained. If you are a landlord and have received complaints about a tenant’s dangerous dog, you have a responsibility to enforce pet rules or evict the tenant.

Proving Property Owner Liability in a Dog Bite Case

Texas typically abides by a one-bite rule when determining legal responsibility (liability) for a dog attack. Under this law, the owner or controller of a dog will have to pay for injuries caused by the dog if the owner knew or reasonably should have known of the dog’s vicious propensities.

Negligence, or the failure to exercise a proper amount of care to prevent a dog attack, can also be used to hold someone liable for a dog bite injury in Texas. If you were negligent in maintaining a safe premises as a property owner, this could provide grounds for a dog bite lawsuit against you.

Exceptions to the Rule

As a property owner in Texas, you will not automatically be held liable for dog bite injuries that occur on your premises. The injured victim has the burden of proving your liability using one of Texas’s applicable legal doctrines. You will then have the opportunity to defend yourself.

The following exceptions to Texas’s dog bite law could exempt you from liability for a dog attack as a property owner:

  • Comparative negligence. If the victim is responsible for causing the dog to bite (provocation), you may not be liable for the incident as the property owner. If the victim was trespassing on your property at the time of the attack, this could also protect you from injury liability.
  • Lack of knowledge. To hold you responsible for a dog attack, the victim must have evidence that you knew or reasonably should have known of the dog’s vicious tendencies. If there was no way you could have known about the dangerous dog, you may not be at risk of being held liable.
  • Preventative measures. If you were aware of the possibility of a dog bite injury but took all of the proper and reasonable precautions to prevent an attack, this may protect you from being held responsible for a victim’s injuries.

If you behaved in a way that a reasonable and prudent property owner would have in the same circumstances to prevent a dog attack, the courts will most likely find that you are not liable for a dog bite injury that occurs on your property. If you are held liable, however, your property or homeowners insurance policy will most likely pay for the injured victim’s medical bills and losses. Contact an attorney today.

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