Who’s Liable for Dog Bites in Florida? Know Your Rights

4.5 million Americans are affected by dog bites each year. It’s important to know your rights, whether you’re liable to be bitten, or your dog is liable to bite a person. The more you know before it happens, the better you will handle it if it happens.

Strict Liability

The key fact in dog bite liability in Florida is that it falls under a bit of law called “strict liability.” This means that the victim of the dog bite will not have to prove negligence on the part of the dog’s owner. In practice, this means that the owner of the dog can have legal action brought against them even if they had no idea the dog was likely to bite.

Liability Constraints

In Florida, dog bites have their own special statute. This is true of most places, but the contents of this law varies. In Florida there are two basic constraints:

·         the dog bit another person

·         the incident occurred within four years of the claim

·         the bite occurred in public, or legally on private property.

The law surrounding dog bites is, in large part, in favour of the victim. The statute of limitations is long so if your dog bit someone, you will want to deal with it right away to avoid a surprise in the future.

Possible Defenses

The most common defense used by dog owner’s in dog bite cases is that the victim was trespassing at the time of the bite. If the victim was on your property without your permission at the time, trespassing might be a valid defense in your case. This is an especially important bit of knowledge for those of you that have guard dogs; if someone is trespassing on your property, you will not be liable for the bites.

The more common defense used by dog owners is with a comparative negligence approach. Comparative negligence is basically a way for the defendant and the accused to share the blame for the bite. Unlike the trespassing defense, this defense won’t get your case dismissed, but it will lessen the load. If you can prove the victim’s negligence, then you will only need to pay a fraction of the suit equal to the fraction of responsibility you hold.

Civil Court

Your case will be processed through the Florida circuit court system. To get a court date and to file a claim, it’s best to talk to a lawyer first. Because the statute of limitation on dog bites is four years, there’s no harm in consulting a lawyer first to make sure you’re handling your case the right way.