The circumstances regarding a recent murder conviction in San Francisco for a death from a dog attack were very bizarre, but the fact remains that there are more ordinary circumstances under which a court can hold a dog owner and/or that person's landlord responsible for harm from a dog attack. The owner's liability is based typically on not properly controlling his or her pet and the landlord's liability is often for allowing the owner to keep the dog in the rental unit.
Although the underlying law in your state might be different, holding a landlord liable generally requires proof that the landlord knew before the incident that caused harm that the tenant had a dangerous animal and did not respond adequately on that knowledge. Many states base knowledge that a dog is dangerous on that animal being a breed that has tends to be vicious. These laws often specifically identify pit bulls and great danes as these breeds. As such, a landlord who knows that a tenant has a pit bull may be held liable if that dog attacks someone even if the dog has been as gentle as a lamb for many years during a tenancy.
The second common basis for holding a landlord liable for an attack by a tenant's dog is a dog of any breed showing prior violent tendencies. This may consist of the dog snapping at people who come to the tenant's home or actually attacking someone previously. Some states do allow essentially "one free bite" by not holding a landlord liable for a dog's first attack of someone and other states impose liability the first time that such an attack occurs.
This potential liability makes it very important that a landlord know if a tenant has a dog and if that dog's presence presents a risk of liability as described above. The obvious solution under these circumstances is that the landlord send the tenant a return receipt letter that requires that the tenant either find a new home for the dog or move and that the landlord keep the signed receipt and a copy of that letter. It is also a good idea that the landlord or the landlord's representative visit the rental property a few times to verify that the tenant has found the dog a new home or brought it to a shelter that is preferably a no-kill shelter.
If the landlord has good reason to believe that the tenant has gotten rid of the dog, it is unlikely that a court will hold the landlord liable for any future attack by the dog if the tenant in fact has kept it. A court decided recently that a landlord was not liable for an attack by a tenant's dog after the landlord told the tenant clearly that the dog could not move into the rental home and the tenant later said falsely that the dog was no longer living there.
I am a fanatical animal lover and check shelters regularly for two cats to adopt but recognize that dogs that pose a threat simply must not allowed to harm anyone. It seems that a home with a securely fenced-in yard is a good option in most cases.
My e-mail is nelsonexaminer@gmail.com, and questions and comments are always welcome. Please remember that nothing that I write can be considered legal advice or provide a basis for an attorney-client relationship.
Comments
My 9 year old son was playing in my back yard Friday morning, November 28, 2008, when three freely roaming dogs(a greyhound, a great dane, and a bull mastiff)came into my back yard and my child was attacked by the great dane and the bull mastiff so severely all over his body that he had to be flown to Egleston Children's Hospital in Atlanta, GA to the trauma center. He had been bitten on the arm and upper legs and all over his back. These dogs fought with each other over my son and tore all his clothes off of him as he tried to get away and when they tore his shirt off of him they fought over his shirt shredding parts of it. He came into the house naked and bleeding all over. The bites were so bad, the fat under the skin and the plasma were falling out like big pieces of soft meat. This happened on Hendricks Church Road, Thomaston, GA on Black Friday and my son is now in stable condition and was released this evening from the hospital and has to now have physical therapy and occupational therapy for his arm and his leg that he cannot move. His back is severely bruised because the great dane picked up my son and swung him around in his mouth back and forth with the dog's head and my son's head hitting each other like he was a chew toy, as my son described it. He has bite punctures all over his back.The dogs owner, Lisa Fox, says the bull mastiff has been hers for three years and the greyhound for 14 years, but the great dane she got one week ago from a shelter because no one wanted it and she was bordering it until they found it a home. She says after one day of having the dog, she called Upson Animal Control to come and get the dog because it was too rambunctious and they never came until Black Friday when the Sheriff's deputies called them to come pick up both dogs from Ms. Fox's house. The great dane's white snout was covered with blood when they picked him up.We moved here from Louisiana three weeks ago after my fiance was hurt in Hurricane Gustav when a metal awning flew off of our house and severely severed his ear and his corotid artery which has caused paralysis of the right side of his face and he is now going blind in his right eye. I wanted to go to a place with the least amount of disasters and came here and now my son is all bruised and stitched up and can hardly move. I was so tired of having to escape hurricanes and tired of losing everything and now this. I almost lost my only son!
Update on above story of dog attack in Thomaston, GA. It is now two years since the dog attack and we still have nightmares over the incident. I hired an attorney who has not been able to get any cooperation from the property owners or the dog owners. The great dane was put to sleep and we found out that Lisa Fox lied about calling animal control to come and get the great dane the week before. She had never called animal control at all. She just let the dog along with her other two dogs roam the streets while she went to work. There is no leash law in the area I lived in and Georgia has a one bite law that allows a dog to bite someone one time before the owner can be held liable for any damages to a human. But if that dog is in the street and causes someone to wreck then the owner is liable but not if he kills a human being. We had so much trouble trying to get the Bull Mastiff declared a dangerous dog. It took a hearing with the commissioner of Upson County and the director of animal control to decide this dog was dangerous and had to be kept in a kennel. Having the dog declared a dangerous dog only meant that the dog had to be kept in a pen and walked by an adult on a leash. Also the owner had to get $15,000 of liability insurance and post signs on the property that there was a dangerous dog. The owners fought this at the hearing bringing in numerous witnesses to testify that the dog was not dangerous. Even the landlord, Kathy Pollard spoke up at the hearing that she has been with the dog and her children have been with the dog and she has never seen any sign of him being a dangerous dog. These people were so rude and inconsiderate and were angry at us when it should have been the opposite. It was my son who was sitting in the hearing room all bandaged up with stitches from head to toe and they were more worried about having to pen a dog up. My son got up and testified that he didn't want the dog killed, just kept away from our yard so he doesn't try to eat him again. Well the dog was declared a dangerous dog and the owners were ordered to keep him in a pen and they would be fined if he were out roaming the streets again. The owners, the Foxes, were highly upset and could care less about what they had just been ordered to do. They let their greyhound roam freely in my yard on a daily basis. The bull mastiff, the dog declared dangerous, was in my yard again a number of times. I even videod the dog in my yard with a camcorder and gave it to Upson County Animal Control and nothing was done. The animal control director, Smart Webb even had the audacity to tell me that if the dog is in my yard and not trying to attack us and we shoot it, we will be charged with animal cruelty and arrested. But the dog can try to kill us and the owners are not charged with human cruelty or attempted murder. I had to eventually move from this place in March of this year because my son could not play in the yard anymore. The Foxes and their landlord owned bulls that were pinned up in the pasture behind our house. Every week the bulls were in my yard fighting each other and tearing up everything in the yard. I took pictures of the bulls and called animal control and was told he doesn't deal with cattle. Lisa Fox bought two more dogs, that appeared at my porch steps barking every time we went outside. It became too stressful to live here any longer. Lisa Fox works for UGA Coopetive Extension and handles all the 4H of the schools and you would think she would have more responsibility with animals. I have over $40,000 of medical bills, my son is scarred for life all over his body ( his arm looks deformed) and has peripheral neuropathy in his arms and legs and gets shock sensations through his extremities daily from nerve damage. The dog owners refuse to pay any of the medical bills and their attorney has sent letters saying they are not responsible for any of it because they did not know that their dog was a dangerous dog. Even after knowing he is a dangerous dog, they still let the dog roam free in the neighborhood and terrorize our family.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!