Chapter 7
DOG BITE!
(Do Dogs Really Get One Free Bite?)
Labrador retrievers top the list almost every year as one of the best choices for a family dog. They are loving, intelligent, active, and loyal. So when Patrick and Amber Sanders chose a yellow labrador puppy for their family pet, they had no idea what was ahead of them.
Until that fateful June 2012 afternoon, Phineas lived a normal puppyhood and grew into a beautiful three-year-old cherished family member. On that day, Phineas was playing in the backyard with Lexi Sanders and her seven-year-old neighborhood friend. The friend fell on Phineas and claimed that he bit her. Subsequently, the girl’s mother said that Phineas had bitten the girl on two previous occasions that had never been reported. The girl was taken to the hospital and the “bite” was photographed and treated.
After the animal control authorities were involved, Phineas was seized and a sixteen-month ordeal began. In July of 2012, Phineas was sentenced to death by the town’s mayor, Gary Brown. He ruled that Phineas was a “dangerous dog” under the town’s Dangerous Dog Ordinance because of the unsubstantiated allegations that he’d bitten before this incident. The Sanders appealed and hired local attorney Joe Simon. Not an experienced animal attorney, but convinced of Phineas’s innocence, Simon took the case pro bono (for free), and it became his mission to get Phineas exonerated and back home with his family.
As the protracted legal battle inched along, Phineas was first housed in the local fire station basement, where he was not getting adequate care or exercise. Mayor Brown, who had not only ordered the death sentence and deemed Phineas “vicious,” also vigorously denied these accusations and claimed that he’d walked Phineas on many occasions. The firefighter who disputed this was fired. Why the mayor would walk a dog he deemed dangerous and vicious was a question that was never answered, and not one witness had ever seen Brown walking Phineas.
Phineas was next moved to a local kennel, where he escaped through a hole in the fence. Finally, a local vet took Phineas in and the family was allowed to visit. Things did not quiet down, though. Hearing after hearing was held and rescheduled with no results. This small Missouri town was deeply divided, and the story spread across the nation and the world thanks to social media. Billboards went up all over the area with a giant picture of Phineas pleading, “Don’t let Salem, Missouri, kill me.”
Attorney Simon did his research and filed hundreds of pages of motions and memorandums to the court. He interviewed witnesses and spent hours with the Sanders family and as much time with Phineas as allowed. Emotions ran high, with the local citizens pitted against one another. The largest contingent of citizens and millions of people on social media demanded the mayor’s resignation. The judge initially ruled that Phineas must be euthanized, as he had bitten someone before, and therefore was a dangerous dog.
The Sanders, their supporters, and attorney Simon did not give up. They requested a new hearing, citing newly discovered relevant evidence. A forensic dog bite expert was retained—just like CSI, a dog bite expert can tell if a specific dog caused a bite. At the new hearing, detailed testimony and forensic data were presented as proof that Phineas was not the dog that caused the bite, because his teeth simply did not match the bite marks. Additionally, there was no testimony that Phineas had ever bitten anyone in the past.
With time running out for Phineas, attorney Simon and the Sanders contacted the Lexus Project, a nonprofit organization started after a greyhound named Lexus was sentenced to die in Rhode Island for killing a Pomeranian puppy. Lexus was doing nothing more than her canine instincts compelled her to do. For a typical greyhound, long-haired small animals are prey, so when she saw the small dog running in a dog park, her natural instinct kicked in. Despite expert testimony and no record of any aggressive behavior, Lexus was scheduled for death.
Due to the volunteer efforts of two attorneys, Lexus was released and allowed to be relocated out of the state and the Lexus Project was born. They’ve intervened on behalf of dozens of dogs. Many of the dogs they assist are those that breed-specific legislation (laws specifically designed to ban and/or impose sentences on specific breeds of dogs perceived to be naturally aggressive) is directed at or dogs that have been declared dangerous. Labradors, however, are not included in any breed-specific legislation, and the only thing they’re often accused of is loving and excessively licking their pet parents. The mayor’s determination to have Phineas killed and the judge’s agreement were vigorously challenged.
Finally, the Dent County judge reversed his previous ruling. On October 25, 2013, the court ruled that it would be a “manifest injustice” if Phineas was put to death and that he should be returned to the Sanders family immediately. Thousands of Phineas’s supporters rejoiced, and the news spread rapidly on social media. Only one problem—Phineas was missing. Despite the impossibility, Phineas had vanished into thin air. The stunned Sanders family, while happy and relieved over the ruling, had no idea if they would ever see their beloved dog again.
Phineas went missing from the veterinary clinic on October 11, 2013. There were no signs of a break-in. There was nothing missing from the clinic: all the drugs, money, and every dog was accounted for. There were no clues, and nothing was recorded on any of the surveillance cameras. The initial jubilation over the judge’s ruling was tempered by the fact that Phineas was gone and no one seemed to know where he was. The billboards all over Dent County had a new urgent plea: “Where is Phineas?” Everyone close to the case was stuck in a bittersweet limbo waiting for even the smallest piece of news that could lead them to Phineas.
Then the Sanders received an anonymous letter stating that Phineas was safe and was in the care of a person who was supportive of their case. They said they’d taken Phineas in the event the court’s decision had gone the other way. He was being cared for and he was in good hands.
Phineas was at a safe house, where the family was able to visit him and give him the good news in person. They didn’t bring him home right away, as they were receiving threats as the controversy kept going. Pat and Amber Sanders eventually brought Phineas home.
One dog, one bite—a huge problem that’s repeated daily throughout the United States. While Phineas’s story eventually had a happy ending, the lives of many people were changed forever. One thing blaringly lacking in this case that could have simplified everything was good old common sense.
An interesting result of this case was the election results in Salem, Missouri, in April of 2014. Jim “Doc” Tune, the veterinarian who housed and cared for Phineas during the legal proceedings, was urged by the many Phineas supporters to run for mayor against Mayor Gary Brown, who had signed the death warrant for the dog. Although Brown had been an incumbent mayor for many years, Doc Tune won the election, and the dogs and people in Salem rejoiced.
As long as we’ve had domestic dogs there have been incidents of dogs biting people. If your dog bites someone, the situation can quickly get out of control and become a matter of life and death for your dog. If you have a certain breed of dog, including and leading the pack pit bulls, rottweilers, or Dobermans, your dog will be in immediate jeopardy due to the influx of dangerous-dog and breed-specific legislation (BSL) in recent years. Such legislation is nothing more than dogscrimination, but if it’s the law in your jurisdiction, you must overcome the presumption that your dog is dangerous or exhibits aberrant qualities attributed to her breed. Below is a list of the dog breeds most often targeted in breed-specific legislation.
1. American pit bull terriers
2. American Staffordshire terriers
3. Staffordshire bull terriers
4. English bull terriers
5. American bulldogs
6. Doberman pinschers
7. Mastiffs
8. Dalmatians
9. Chow Chows
10. German shepherds
11. Presa canario
12. Dogo Argentina
13. Wolf hybrids
In many areas, in addition to the breeds listed, mixed-breed dogs that resemble one of these breeds are also banned and subject to stricter scrutiny than other dogs.
A typical BSL statute prohibits the ownership and/or regulation of certain breeds deemed dangerous within a designated jurisdiction. That’s a legal way of saying that one town may prohibit certain breeds of dogs, but one five miles down the road won’t. As of January 2016, nineteen states have laws banning breed legislations. They are:
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Florida
• Illinois
• Maine
• Maryland
• Minnesota
• New Jersey
• Nevada
• New York
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Dakota
• Texas
• Utah
• Virginia
• Washington
If you live in a state that prohibits BSL that means there can be no such law passed anywhere in your state. Your town can’t decide on its own that it will enact a local BSL law because state law has power over local law. Most BSL laws are local, meaning specific to a city or county. Ohio is the only state that has a statewide BSL statute, and all municipalities and counties in Ohio are subject to this state law and prohibited from exempting out of it or making any changes on the local level.
Besides outright banning ownership of specific breeds, BSL also regulates ownership and control of dogs where they are permitted. The regulations are passed in an effort to ensure public safety from dog bites, although there have been no proven studies to confirm this. Regulations can include:
1. Mandatory spay/neuter
2. Mandatory microchip
3. Liability insurance
4. Prohibiting ownership by convicted felons
5. Muzzling the dog in public
6. Prohibiting them from certain public spaces such as parks and dog parks
It’s not just owners of dog breeds included in BSL who are opposed to such regulations. The American Bar Association, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the Center for Disease Control, the Humane Society of the United States, and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals are only a few of the many organizations that don’t support such laws. Even President Barack Obama, in August 2013, said that BSL laws are not effective, do nothing to improve the safety of the public, and are most often a “waste of public resources.”
Although BSL has gotten a lot of publicity in recent years, it’s not new. In 1989, Denver, Colorado, passed BSL for the purpose of reducing the number of dog bites in the city. However, from 1995 to 2011 Denver had a higher rate of dog bites than any other city in the state. A National Canine Research Council study concluded: “Breed-discriminatory Denver County, with a population of about twice that of breed-neutral Larimer County, had more than seven times as many dog bite–related hospitalizations during the same seventeen-year period.”19 The Netherlands repealed their national BSL after fifteen years because they found that it didn’t reduce the number of dog bites, which was why they had passed it in the first place. In Florida, Miami-Dade County’s BSL banned only pit bulls (which are technically not a breed) in 1989. It didn’t reduce dog bites, but created excessive legal expenses from the numerous court proceedings it generated. Legal expenses have also risen in jurisdictions that have BSL when disabled persons are denied housing because their service dog is one of the prohibited breeds. As discussed in chapter 3, it’s illegal to discriminate against persons who require service dogs. Municipalities have been challenged in court when they ban a person from housing contrary to the Americans with Disabilities Act due to the breed or presumed breed of their service dog.
One of the most maddening aspects of BSL is that in many jurisdictions if your dog even vaguely resembles a prohibited dog, you will be judged under the conditions and specifications of the BSL laws. BSL has been largely unsuccessful in reducing the number of dog bites in jurisdictions where it’s implemented.20
Even if you don’t live where BSL is the law and no specific breeds are prohibited, if your dog is one of the “presumed” dangerous-dog breeds and she bites someone, be prepared to refute in court the presumption that she is a “dangerous dog.” There has been so much publicity about breed-specific legislation that the breeds it targets are usually presented in a negative context. This detrimental publicity makes the general public wary of such breeds and drives local law enforcement and animal control officers to treat these dogs unfairly.
Most states have laws that specify what behaviors or incidents lead to a dog being labeled “dangerous” or “vicious.” The most universal standard is if the dog has bitten before. Known as the “one-bite rule,” it originated in English common law when the determination was made that each animal a person owned was exonerated from liability for the first bite. How they kept track of this is beyond me. Did each animal owner and farmer have “Bite Books” where they recorded what animal bit which person on what day and a short description? Did animal-to-animal bites count? I can’t see this system being at all accurate or even working.
However, we use this standard today, in particular to determine the degree of “punishment” a dog will receive if she bites someone. If a dog has a record of biting someone she can face very severe penalties, including death. Pet parents need to be aware that allegations of previous biting must be proven, but they are often falsely alleged in order to have the dog that bit euthanized. Sadly, this is particularly true if you have one of the dogs on the BSL list. Emotions run high on both sides of a dog bite incident, and often the truth is not only bent, it’s stretched beyond feasibility. In the case of Phineas, there was no proof that he had ever bitten anyone, yet that allegation lingered throughout the court proceedings.
This sounds like a sound principle on paper. No previous bite, no problem. Let’s say you have a docile dog who’s having a bad day and nips the mailman. Your dog never bit anyone before, so you say you’re sorry and that’s the end of it. Not so fast. Everything legal is often just a “maybe” premise, and this is no different. It seems pretty clear that if your dog hasn’t bitten someone, you won’t be liable for the first bite. Maybe. Your dog won’t be considered dangerous or vicious in most jurisdictions if she hasn’t bitten anyone, but if you “knew or should have known” that your dog had a tendency to be aggressive or bite, you can still be charged with keeping a vicious dog and held responsible for the person’s damages. The one-bite rule also only applies to actual bites. So if your dog knocks someone down and you knew she had a tendency to do this, you may be held liable. If you deny being responsible for any injuries the person suffered from the fall, the case most likely will end up in court and the judge or jury will have to decide if you “knew or should have known” your dog would do this. Factors that can be considered to prove you had knowledge of the alleged behavior include:
• Barking at strangers
• Jumping on people
• Threatening people: growling and snapping
• Frightening people: running along the fence and barking at people
• Fighting or lunging at other dogs
• Fight training
• Complaints about your dog
• BEWARE OF DOG sign
As to notices of a dog on the property, such as the BEWARE OF DOG sign, this in itself is not an indication that you knew your dog was dangerous. A sign will most likely prevent someone from entering your property and it could prevent bites to a trespasser and the resulting legal nightmare, even though a dog is most often given the benefit of a doubt when biting someone on her owner’s own property. On the other hand, a good attorney will do everything possible to show that because you posted the sign it’s evidence that you knew your dog was aggressive.
Where the bite occurred is also a factor in determining the severity of the punishment and the amount of any fine if applicable. A dog that’s loose or “running at large,” as the law refers to them, is subject to stricter penalties. In West Virginia, if your dog is running at large and bites someone, you don’t get to quarantine her at home for the required ten days. As most statutes refer to them, dogs running at large are dogs that are not controlled by the owner with a leash. Loose dogs receive more severe punishments, which often include euthanasia. Bites that occur on the dog owner’s property receive less scrutiny and more lenient consequences, as the dog is presumed to be protecting her territory and not attacking. This is a general presumption and given different weight in deciding the case depending on the circumstances.
A prevalent factor in determining what punishment a dog receives for biting, sometimes even when it’s a first bite, is the severity of the victim’s injuries. Almost every state gives more stringent punishments for any bite that causes serious injuries. Additionally, in some states a severe injury not only results in a strong punishment, but often is enough to have the dog declared “dangerous” or “vicious” and sentenced to death. The severity of the injury is often assessed by these factors:
1. Medical bills over two thousand dollars
2. If plastic surgery is required
3. Broken bones
4. Length of recovery
5. Permanent scarring or disability
The average dog bite (if there is such a thing) doesn’t usually result in injuries this egregious. While writing this chapter, a neighbor’s dog bit me, which is the second dog bite I’ve experienced. Maxi, my neighbor’s dog, had previously attacked my dog Sadie while we were walking one evening. Her owner and I separated the dogs and no one was hurt. I liked Maxi and believed she needed more socialization.
The night Maxi decided to bite me I was bringing treats for her to the house. When the front door opened she ran out. I got down to her level with the treats and she bit my arm. I was stunned. Her owner was frantic as he grabbed her and yanked her back in the house. When I got home I was more upset to see that her tooth had put a hole in a favorite jacket, but I did have a small puncture wound. Since I couldn’t remember when I’d had a tetanus shot, I went to the local urgent care.
When I told them why I was there, I was given a “Dog Bite Incident Report” to fill out. This is standard at any medical facility that treats a dog bite. I thought nothing of it, got my tetanus shot, and went home. Later I was called by animal control for more information, and my neighbors had to quarantine their dog for ten days.
I could have reported the previous attack on my dog, but I didn’t. This dog had a lot of recent trauma in her life. She’d been placed at my neighbors when a relative could no longer care for her. After spending five years with one person who was home all the time, this dog was not used to a busy family that left her alone far too often and never gave her a chance to socialize with people or other dogs. I gave my neighbors the name of a good dog trainer/behaviorist who could address these issues with them. I believe they are spending more time with the dog, and on a recent walk we met up with Maxi and her dog mom. She was calmer and didn’t lunge at me or Sadie, but we kept our distance.
Another mitigating factor if your dog bites someone is if she was justified in biting, or in simple terms, maybe the person asked for it. Just like human justification for killing someone to defend and protect your own life (self-defense), there are times when a dog bite is justified. If your dog attacks someone who’s attempting to harm you, it’s justified. If someone is intentionally harming your dog, hitting her or kicking her, for example, and she bites them, it’s justified.
One thing is for sure, as a pet parent you must know the dog bite law in your state and your community. Dog bite laws vary from county to county and sometimes from town to town. Dog law sections in state codes are not usually very long. I advise every pet parent to become familiar with their state law and all county or municipal ordinances that govern dogs in any or all of the following ways:
1. Make a copy of your state code animal law section as well as your city and/or county ordinances and read it, highlight it, memorize it!
2. Gather the names of two or three attorneys or law firms in your area that handle animal cases. If you ever need legal counsel for any issue with your dog, you’ll be prepared.
3. Make it a priority to know the state political candidates’ views on animal issues in your jurisdiction. We think to question politicians on everything from clean air to health care, yet not about how their voting and background could affect our companion animals.
4. Be active in the local shelter. Know the structure of your county or city animal control division. If you hear of abusive tactics, take action to have them corrected. If you hear of great jobs being done, let them know.
5. Attend county commission or city council meetings when animal issues are on the agenda.
I believe that while I share my life with my dog, it is not an insular existence. While she is part of the great world, what governs her is like a parallel, but separate, universe. Many things I experienced while writing this book convinced me of this. It’s similar to having a loved one move to a foreign country and you just can’t understand the customs and laws. You have to “learn to speak the language” of dog law, and the most important laws are the ones governing biting. These are the laws that can inflict the harshest punishment and loss for you and your dog. All dogs will bite in the wrong circumstances. This situation can become a completely different event when presented by an attorney in court. The best solution is keeping your dog from being in a situation where she might bite someone. It sounds impossible, but here are some simple steps that can go a long way to avoid your dog biting someone.
1. Always keep your dog on a leash in public places.
2. Be aware of people, children in particular, approaching your dog. If a child comes quickly toward your dog, place yourself between the child and your dog.
3. Don’t take your dog into large crowds or where fireworks and other frightful events are possible.
4. Never leave your dog alone tethered to a fence, pole, or other object while in public.
5. Have a fenced yard with gates that can be securely locked from the inside.
Reducing the chance that your dog will be near or around frightening circumstances and people that might provoke her are good starts to preventing dog bites, but an understanding of why dogs bite is imperative. A friend gave me a beautiful poster of a German shepherd and the caption was, “People shouldn’t bite.” This is true, but people have many choices for expressing fear or reacting to provocation. Dogs do not. They can run away, but when they are provoked, threatened, or frightened they often bite. It’s not the end of the world if your dog bites someone; however, it could be the end of your dog’s life if you don’t respond quickly.
Dogs bite for as many reasons as people lose their tempers. Dog bites account for almost 90 percent of all reported animal bites.21 Attorney Ken Phillips represents dog bite victims full-time. Dog bite statistics on his website state that between 2001 and 2003 there were four and a half million dog bite victims per year in the United States, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control. Considering that approximately seventy-five million dogs live in the United States, that’s only about 16 percent of the total number of domestic dogs. Despite horror stories of unleashed pit bulls randomly attacking a child and severely mauling them, this almost never happens. Men are bitten by dogs more than women. (Seems cats prefer to bite women.) The greatest number of dog bite victims are friends, acquaintances, or members of the dog owner’s family. Sixty-one percent of dog bites happen at home or a familiar place. A relatively small percentage of bites are inflicted by errant stray dogs. This means that most bites leave surprised pet parents shocked by their loyal canine companions and often wondering whether they can ever trust them again. This is a misconception, because under the right circumstances all dogs will bite. Biting is a normal means of canine protection and defense. Knowing this, I find it surprising that less than 25 percent of the domestic dogs actually bite people each year.
So, why do dogs that have never shown any aggression before bite when it’s not justified? We all know what it feels like to be extremely stressed, but we have many ways to express our anxiety. Dogs often bite as an expression of stress or fear. When a dog bites out of stress or fear it’s referred to as provocation. A good definition of provocation relating to dogs is when a person’s action immediately causes a radical change in the dog’s behavior.
Below is a list of some of the things that cause dogs to stress and may provoke them to bite.
1. Excessive and out-of-the-ordinary noise. Fireworks and loud music, such as at an outdoor concert, fair, or other event with crowds and noise. Gunshots, backfire from cars, and sirens are also frightening to dogs.
2. Active children whom the dog is not acclimated to, particularly if the child is pulling the dog’s ears or trying to take something out of its mouth.
3. New and unfamiliar places, such as hotels. Most hotels that allow dogs require that if you’re going to leave the dog in the room you must secure them in a crate and place a tag on your door signaling to the maid a dog is in the room. Some hotels allow room cleaning with a crated dog and some don’t. It’s foreseeable that a dog would consider a chambermaid a trespasser and bite them.
4. Teasing—a dog will eventually reach a threshold of no patience and bite.
5. Pain from an undiagnosed injury or illness.
6. Stranger invasion of the dog’s space by hugging or other touching.
7. Unintentional injury to a dog, such as stepping on its tail or paw.
8. Taking food or toys away from a dog.
9. Startling a sleeping dog.
10. Physical threat or harm to the dog’s owner.
Stressors vary widely from dog to dog. Many dogs are fearful of thunderstorms and will quiver and try to hide from the noise. It’s imperative that you know your own dog and what triggers stress in him. Adopted dogs may have had terrible experiences before they were rescued. They often carry these memories with them and react to similar situations and people aggressively. I learned this while my dog Sadie was a puppy. As mentioned previously, Sadie has always had a fearful reaction to people limping or those using crutches or in wheelchairs. She also barks furiously and growls at men in ball caps with glasses. I have no idea why, but she will growl, start barking, and then hide behind me.
I’m the only person Sadie has ever bitten and it was very lightly when I attempted to remove a knot in her hair. I know her triggers and how she reacts, so I avoid them as much as possible. You can avoid a potential biting incident if you learn what stresses your dog and protect her from circumstances where this might occur. People need to understand dogs better and realize most biting issues are the result of human behavior and mistakes. Most bites don’t signify that the dog can never be trusted again. After a first bite almost all dogs could remain at home and have long, happy, and bite-free lives if their pet parents would learn what causes them to become stressed and do everything possible to reduce it.
In the event that your dog bites someone, here are the steps you should take to make the incident as easy to deal with as possible. If your dog bites someone, it will be a complete shock; however, you must remain calm and take action immediately.
Two things have to be done immediately and almost simultaneously: Make sure the victim is okay, and remove your dog from the scene as quickly as possible. Put her in the house or another room of the house, a crate, or your car if you are at a dog park. See that the victim goes for medical treatment if necessary.
Don’t yell at your dog or discipline her. I’m not a dog trainer or behaviorist, but I’ve learned that getting aggressive or physically punishing your dog if she bites is the wrong thing to do. There are two reasons for this. First of all, aggression creates aggression, and that’s the last thing needed in a biting situation. Secondly, you don’t want the victim to get the impression that this is common behavior for your dog or that you are blaming your dog. This sounds like legal advice because it is; don’t admit guilt on any level. Sympathy and expressions of comfort are fine, but say nothing that will indicate guilt or responsibility.
If the victim is a stranger, exchange information. If there are witnesses, get their names and contact information. Take pictures of the victim’s injuries with your cell phone. Even if you won’t be liable for their medical bills, offer to pay for any medical expenses. This is not an admission of liability, but it goes a long way to prevent any thoughts of a lawsuit immediately. This is particularly important if the bite is superficial.
Don’t blame the victim even if the bite was the result of a clearly egregious act from the victim. Why? You simply don’t want to aggravate the situation. Everyone has heard the warning given to criminals from watching movies and television: “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” This is true. It’s better to keep your remarks conciliatory and neutral during the aftermath of the bite. If someone is at fault, there will be a time and place to make that known. Keeping calm, rational, and nonjudgmental can make a dog bite episode much easier to deal with.
Tell the victim that your dog is up to date on his rabies vaccination. There should be a tag issued by the county or municipality on your dog’s collar that shows this.
If this happened on your property, put your homeowner’s insurance on notice. If the victim goes to a doctor’s office or the emergency room, they’ll have to fill out a report that will be sent to your local police department and animal control. I advise clients to inform the authorities before they get the report. Sometimes the police are called to the scene by the victim or a bystander. In that case, be cooperative and provide your information and a statement of what happened.
In every state, you’ll be required to quarantine your dog for a period of time. This is commonly from ten to fourteen days even if your dog’s rabies vaccination is current. If your dog is not currently vaccinated for rabies, the confinement period can be up to six months. Where and who supervises the quarantine varies from state to state. In West Virginia, the owner is permitted to quarantine the dog at home if it’s a first bite, she was not running at large, and she has been vaccinated. The owner is also allowed to quarantine the dog at home if she wasn’t vaccinated, but must do so for six months. However, if the owner doesn’t want to quarantine the dog at home, for whatever reason, or any of the other conditions apply, the dog must be quarantined at a licensed veterinarian, not the local shelter. The veterinarian is permitted to charge the owner a reasonable fee for boarding.22
The law in your state will determine where the dog will be housed during the quarantine and who will monitor her. Local ordinances are sometimes different than the state law, so make sure you know what applies to where you live. Know your rights concerning this. This is important because local rules vary and local favoritism and bias can play more of a role in dog bite cases than the law allows.
For example, we have a case in West Virginia where the local animal control officer, who also happened to be the director of the shelter, immediately seized a dog from owners when a bite occurred. The dog had never bitten before. The dog was not running at large. A neighbor child had entered the yard uninvited and went straight to the dog and tried to take a ball out of her mouth. The dog jumped up to get the toy, which resulted in an injury to the child’s lip that required seven stitches. The animal control officer came to the dog’s home the next day, threatened the owners, and took the dog. Not knowing their rights or the law, the owners were helpless.
The dog was kept at the local shelter in an outside kennel not for the required ten days, but for twenty-nine days. It wasn’t until local animal advocates, attorneys, and veterinarians intervened that the dog was released. The local prosecutor reached an agreement with the family’s attorney that the dog had to stay in the jurisdiction until the owner was served with a criminal complaint for harboring a dangerous dog and the case was decided in court. Before the animal control officer would release the dog, the owners had to pay two hundred dollars for the “boarding fee.” Even though West Virginia law only allows a veterinarian to charge a rate of fifteen dollars a day for boarding when the owner refuses to quarantine an unvaccinated dog, these desperate pet parents paid it. This case is discussed in detail in chapter 8, as the illegal seizure in the “Tinkerbelle case,” as it became known, was only the beginning of a long court battle that garnered national publicity and is being cited in jurisdictions across the country in dog bite cases.
Throughout any dog bite incident, you must remain calm. After all information is exchanged and the victim and witnesses are gone, contact your veterinarian for your dog’s current medical records. You might need these. If all indications are that the victim is going to sue you or insist that your dog be euthanized, contact a lawyer immediately.
Be prepared to at least cover all medical expenses incurred by the victim. Additionally, they may claim lost wages for any time away from work or expenses for services needed in relation to their injury, such as housekeeping or lawn services. Get copies of invoices for anything you’re asked to pay for, as well as receipts signed by the victim. It’s always better if you can work this out between both parties and end up with an executed release of all future claims from the victim. In order to do this you might need an attorney to negotiate the release and any claims that seem outrageous. The victim can sue you in civil court, but unless criminal charges have been filed, the damages should be limited to the actual costs from the incident.
Criminal charges might be filed against you for any number of reasons that are set forth in your state code. The most common one from a dog bite incident, as in the Phineas and Tinkerbelle cases, is “harboring a dangerous dog.” The burden of proof is on the plaintiff (victim) to prove each and every part of your state’s criminal code specifications about your dog.
The worst result of a criminal case is if a court orders that your dog must be euthanized. Appeal this decision until you can no longer appeal it. Remember Phineas and the ultimate vindication that brought him back to his family. Think of Tinkerbelle and the long wait to get her freedom. Trust the system and a good lawyer.
There are many considerations after your dog has bitten someone even after all the legal issues have been resolved. You may feel uneasy about your dog and unsure if you’ll ever feel at ease with her again. Each case is as individual as the dog, the dog’s family, and the community where you live. In the West Virginia incident mentioned previously, where a first-bite dog was illegally seized then sentenced to death, that family knows without a doubt that their dog will be a target of animal control officers and local law enforcement as long as she lives there. They steadfastly worked with their attorney preparing for the appeal, knowing they would most likely not get her back home, as they were more concerned for her safety. She was returned to her rescue, a much different dog after the entire time in a shelter, but will eventually find a new home and put this behind her. This might be the best option in many cases where local bias is prevalent against certain breeds.
The Sanders, who owned Phineas, chose to move after the ordeal and took Phineas with them. This happens much more than you’d think. Things change after your dog bites someone, and most often it’s not for the best. People have strong opinions and align with one side or the other, which can make things difficult for the dog’s family. If your situation ended up in court and you prevailed, it’s not uncommon for local law enforcement or animal control officers to feel that their authority was usurped and many pet parents, like the Sanders, to feel on edge.
You have difficult decisions to make following a dog bite. Find ways to manage your dog’s behavior so she doesn’t have the opportunity to bite again. Analyze what happened and consult a dog trainer/behaviorist for assistance in modifying stressful situations and triggers for your dog. Modifying your dog’s reaction to situations that cause her to be aggressive is not a simple task and requires a long-term commitment.
Pet parents often feel that they can’t take the risk of a dog bite happening again and they re-home the dog. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. There are literally millions of dogs that have never bitten that need homes, which greatly reduces the chance you can successfully find a good home for your dog. Many rescue groups won’t accept dogs that have a biting history, and shelters that will take them often euthanize them.
If your dog is young enough, one option is to place her in a training program that will accept a dog that’s bitten, such as government programs for drug- or bomb-sniffing dogs, law enforcement K-9 units, or cadaver search dogs. Relatively few dogs can’t be rehabilitated after a first bite when pet parents successfully make their dog’s world one that is comfortable and easy to tolerate, thus eliminating the possibility of a second bite.
No matter what the outcome, and in almost every jurisdiction, once your dog has a record of a first bite, if she bites again she has a slim chance of escaping the dangerous-dog designation. If your dog ever bites again, she will be subject to higher penalties under statutes applicable to dangerous dogs. That first bite is never really forgiven and sets the stage for severe consequences should it happen again. Sometimes, despite the bite being the first time the dog has bitten, or the bite not classified as severe, things can get out of control and elevate even a first bite to a tragic situation in many jurisdictions. In Manatee County, Florida, this was heartbreakingly proven true in March of 2014.
Karen Erskine is a nationally known dog trainer. In December 2012, she was visiting a friend in Florida with her two Australian shepherds, Buck and Bill. While Karen and her friend were out, someone broke into the house, which frightened the dogs and they escaped. Witness reports of what happened next were varied, but one or both dogs bit a thirteen-year-old boy on his bicycle. Local law enforcement was called to the scene and they entered the house without a search warrant, a seizure warrant, or even a probable cause warrant and seized the dogs.
The dogs were held at the Manatee County Animal Shelter for four hundred and four days. A protracted and heated legal battle ensued that gained national attention and thousands of supporters on social media. The Lexus Project got involved, but in the end the county killed Buck and Bill even though they had never bitten before, there were exigent circumstances that caused their behavior, and whether the victim’s injuries were “serious” was never ruled on.
But what happens if your dog is bitten? Do you have the right to exercise the same legal options on behalf of your dog as a two-legged victim? Yes, in almost every state you do. Since dogs are still mainly classified as property in the American justice system, you have the right to sue the owner of a dog that attacks and harms your dog, just as you would for the destruction of any other piece of property. These cases are usually brought into small claims court, where the value of damages is typically limited to five thousand dollars. Here’s a list of what you can recover for:
• Veterinary bills and any other damages to your personal property destroyed.
• The original amount you paid for your dog if your dog is killed or must be euthanized.
• Medical bills for injuries you suffer while protecting your dog.
• You can seek emotional damages, although recovery is not a certainty.
• You can ask for punitive damages if the owner was aware of these propensities in their dog.
If the attacking dog is already listed as a dangerous dog, the owner may be charged criminally with harboring an aggressive dog and be ordered by the court to pay restitution to you without filing a civil lawsuit. The attacking dog’s owner may also be charged with other violations of local and/or state law, such as leash laws.
Insurance of one kind or another usually pays the awards plaintiffs win in court for car accidents, property damage, and other tort claims. While getting veterinary coverage insurance is commonplace, insurance companies are not so quick to cover damages caused by dogs for tangible property damage, such as damage to a rental property, or any injuries caused by dog bites. More than one-third of all homeowner claims paid in 2014 were for dog bites, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Many insurance companies actively pursue ways to deny these claims by refusing to sell insurance to homeowners with dogs, refusing insurance to homeowners with dogs included in breed-specific legislation, or writing an exclusion of coverage for dog bites. This trend is detrimental to homeowners who are dog owners, as well as the victims of dog bites. Victims can’t recover from a person who doesn’t have the money to pay them. Potential homeowners can’t get a mortgage if they can’t get insurance to cover the home, and the reason for denial is often the dog.
Some insurance companies will cover dogs included in BSL by charging a higher premium. They’ll ask a series of questions similar to what you provide concerning your driving history for automobile insurance. Just as the rate increases with the number of driving infractions, it increases with dog bite incidents. Some insurance companies offer a discount if you can show proof that your dog has had behavior modification training.
I called Allstate to query about homeowner’s insurance with my dog Sadie. I asked the customer representative if Allstate would write homeowner’s policies for any type of dog. He told me no, and said that they excluded pit bulls, rottweilers, Doberman pinchers, Siberian huskies, Akitas, and many terriers. He asked me what kind of dog I had, and I told him she was a shepherd mix. He thought this over for a minute and asked me what kind of mix and I explained that Sadie had a cocker spaniel mom and a German shepherd dad. I could hear the computer keys clicking, and after a few seconds he told me that Allstate would be happy to write a policy including Sadie because German shepherds and cocker spaniels were not excluded. An Internet search or a phone call can answer all your questions about protecting your pooch’s potential problems with insurance.
Pet parents can also purchase an umbrella policy, which is a separate policy that covers things excluded in your main policy. There are insurance companies that offer canine liability policies that are written for the sole purpose of insuring dogs for damages caused by them, such as injuries and other losses. The Federation of Insured Dog Owners is a relatively new organization that offers these policies for any breed of dog. It’s no mistake that the company’s acronym is FIDO. Policies start as low as seventy-five dollars per year per dog plus a membership fee. This unique company was started by dog lover Deborah Turner and is available in California, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wisconsin. They do not discriminate against any breed, realizing that it’s the behavior not the breed that factors into dog bites. The website www.dogbitequote.com has great information for pet parents and information about the policies, which offer coverage up to seventy-five thousand dollars.
A dog bite is a serious and often life-changing experience. We live in a society ready to file a lawsuit for the slightest reason, and dog bites are no exception. It doesn’t have to be the end of your world or your dog’s life, though. Make sure you know the laws in your state and any local ordinances. Take the precautions described in this chapter and other sources. Socialize your dog and your chances of getting sued for a biting incident are greatly reduced.
Dog biting is not the only reason dogs end up as defendants in court. Canines commit “crimes” unknowingly, despite the best efforts of the pet parents, and often it’s right in your own hometown. What happens if your dog ends up in the legal doghouse? Will your dog need a lawyer?
While your dog rules in your world, cities and counties have numerous dog rules in the form of ordinances and laws that you must know and keep your dog from violating. Kelly and John Anderson found themselves facing this predicament, and that’s how I wound up in court in Charleston, West Virginia, defending three of the sweetest beagles I’d ever met.
19. www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com.
20. Ibid.
21. www.dogbitelaw.com/dog-bite-statistics/dog-bite-statistics.
22. West Virginia Code § 19-20-9a(c).