Articles Tagged with damages for dog bites

I was visiting my neighbor.  He has a dog that is usually chained up but ran up behind me after I stepped off my neighbor’s porch and bit me on the back of the leg.  I fell down and he bit me again on the arm before my neighbor was able to get him off me.   The dog was chained up because he bit someone about 3 years ago, but now they leave him off the chain from time to time to let him get exercise in the yard.   I ended up getting an infection from the bites, have missed four weeks of work and spent thousands of dollars in medical bills.  What are my rights?

Under Tennessee law a dog owner has a duty to exercise reasonable control over his dog.  If you are bitten by a dog on the dog owner’s property while you are on the property with the owner’s permission you have to prove that the dog owner knew or should have known about the dog owner’s dangerous propensities and that that he or she did not exercise reasonable control over the dog.

If you win your case, you are entitled to payment of damages.  Most injuries caused by dog bites are covered under the dog owner’s homeowner’s insurance policy.  

My child and I were in a public park.  A man was there with his dog.  He did not have it on a leash.  The dog ran over, knocked my child down, and bit her on the face.  She has lots of stitches and may have a scar.  The dog’s owner said that the dog has never done this before.  What are my child’s rights?

In Tennessee a dog owner has the duty to keep a dog under reasonable control at all times and to prevent the dog from running at large.  If the dog owner does not do so and the animal injures a person on public property (or on private property of someone other than the dog owner) the dog owner is responsible for the dog’s actions.

Under these circumstances, this is true even though the dog has never bitten anyone else.

Contact Information