Q: Justia, hi, I If my neighbors dog gets out of their back yard, on my prop. my dog bites his, would we be liable?
The neighbors dog crawled underneath their gate and walked over to our front yard, went to the bathroom on our grass. When our dog seen this behind a locked gate, he broke through the nylon built gate to bite the animal. My mom just arrived when this occurred. The neighbor and my mom somehow separated the two, neighbors dog ran back to his house, injured costing us have of his injury (450.00). We have everything on camera. So, the next day I repaired the gate, permanently. The neighbor has not done S*#~! to the gate where the dog gets out. I even offered to fix it free, still no effort on their part. So, my mom is freaking out especially after the animal control came out and almost gave a citation to us. Because their dog came on our property? I told the A.C. about the neighbors gate, where the dog (to this day) gets out. W.T.F.? "ROCKO" is our doges name. He is a bull-terrier. Also; we are just watching him for my brother that is getting a house soon. What do you think?
A: You are probably not liable if your dog bites another dog that enters your property without permission. If your dog exited your property and bit another dog, you would likely be liable. Strict liability applies only to dog bites on humans who are lawfully in a public or private place.
A: FYI, if you face a claim for dog bite liability, notify your homeowner's insurer. Many homeowner's policies contain coverage for liability caused by dog bites.
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