Dog Bites

Dogs are wonderful companions that we, as humans, have become very fond of. There are approximately 68 million dogs in the United States, making pets and pet products a very big business. Living with a dog has been shown to benefit children, adults, and senior citizens, both physically and emotionally. At the same time, however, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs every year, resulting in an estimated 800,000 injuries that require medical attention.

Laws determining liability for a dog bite vary from state to state, but there are essentially two basic kinds of laws: liability when the dog owner knew or should have known the dog might bite someone, and liability regardless of what the owner knew or should have known.