Dog Owners Be Advised
Some dog owners believe they cannot be liable if their dog attacks someone, unless it has attacked someone else before and therefore the animal is known to be dangerous. The Texas Supreme Court has recently made clear that this is not accurate.
The case involved a salesman who was making a delivery to the owner of three dogs. When the door opened, the dogs attacked the salesman, who was badly bitten. As the dogs were attacking the salesman, the owner did nothing to try to stop them.
The salesman sued, and the owner argued that because the dogs had never been vicious before she could not be liable for the injuries they caused. On appeal, the supreme court disagreed. It ruled that because the owner saw the dogs attack, she should have taken reasonable steps to try to call off the dogs or otherwise stop them from attacking the salesperson. Because the evidence showed that she did not do so, she could be liable.
Pet owners should be prepared not only to take reasonable steps to protect people from attacks by their pets, but also to take reasonable steps to stop such attacks should they begin.
Tags: animal, animal attack, animal bites, attack, attacks, bite, dog, dog attack, dog owners, injury, lawsuit, personal, Personal Injury, personal injury lawsuit, pet, pet attack, pet bites, Texas Law Alert