As Kansas City personal injury attorneys, we have handled many dog bite cases. One question that often comes up when visiting with potential clients with dog bite cases is what responsibility a homeowner has when a dog gets loose from their property and bites someone.
Here’s what we’ve found in our experience with these cases. Generally, the responsibilities depend on if the dog is dangerous.
If the dog is dangerous or potentially dangerous, it must be confined and muzzled. A dangerous or potentially dangerous dog is one that has bitten a person or another animal before or has lunged aggressively at a person. If it bites someone, the owner, keeper, or harborer of the dog can be charged criminally.
Even if it is not a dangerous dog, the owner, keeper, or harborer of the dog does not allow it to run at large in the City. The owner of a property can be considered a harborer if he or she knew the dog was there.
Whether the dog is dangerous or not, the property owner can be liable to pay money compensation to anyone the dog bites if it gets loose.
If you’ve been the victim of a dog bite and would like to know your rights, please don’t hesitate to contact our firm.