Dog Bite Injury Claims

Dog Bite Injury Claims in Bexleyheath, London, Kent, and the South East

I have recovered compensation for a number of claimants who have sustained dog bite injuries. The Animals Act 1971 imposes a strict liability on a keeper of an animal for damage done by that animal. The keeper is defined as a person who owns the animal or has the animal in his possession. In dog bite accident claims, dogs are treated as non-dangerous animals and therefore section 2(ii) of the Act states that the keeper of a dog will be liable for damage caused by it if (a) the damage is of a kind which the animal, unless restrained, was likely to cause or which if caused by the animal, was likely to be severe and (b) the likelihood of the damage or if it being severe was due to characteristics of the animal which are not normally found in animals of the same species or are not normally found except at particular times or in particular circumstances and (c) those characteristics were known to the keeper. In dog bite accident claims, the claimant needs to show that the dog, unless restrained, was likely to cause personal injury, that injury was likely to be severe. Where a claimant is bitten by a large dog a court is likely to conclude that an injury caused by a dog bite is likely to be severe.  In the case of Cummings v Granger [1977] QB 397, the claimant was bitten by an Alsatian dog (German Shepherd) and in the case of Curtis v Betts [1990] 1 WLR 459 the claimant was bitten by a bull mastiff and in both of those cases, the court concluded that a bite from those large dogs was likely to cause an injury that would be severe. If a dog had bitten a person in the past, then the claimant would be able to establish that the injury was caused by the dog’s particular characteristics which were not normally found in dogs.

In other cases the claimant could succeed even where the dog had not bitten in the past in circumstances where they may bite for example, a bitch with a litter whose pups may feel threatened, if the dog was not properly controlled by its handler or potentially a guard-dog protecting a property.

In some cases it may be necessary to obtain expert evidence in relation to the breed of dog and the likelihood of a dog biting and causing injury in particular circumstances. If an injured claimant caused the dog to bite the defendant would have a defence to a claim. In the case of Preskey v Sutcliffe [2013] Leeds County Court (Lawtel) the claimant had restrained the dog before the dog bit him. If a police officer directs a police dog to bite a claimant, that could amount to a trespass or common assault but the police would have a defence to a claim under Section 3(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1967 if the police used reasonable force and directed the dog to bite for the purpose of assisting in the lawful arrest of an offender or suspected offender.  In the case of Murgatroyd v The Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police [2000] a police dog was sent into a house through a gap in the door. The claimant was standing next to the door to try and prevent it from being opened. The dog entered and bit the claimant although the dog wasn’t instructed by its handler to bite. The claimant’s claim was successful as it was predictable that a dog would bite when instructed to enter a property by its handler.

I have dealt with a number of successful dog bite injury claims. In one case I recovered compensation for a teenage girl who was bitten by a German Shepherd dog when delivering newspapers to a residential property. The door to the property was open when she was delivering newspapers. The unrestrained dog ran up to the claimant and bit her on the shoulder. The claim was successful because the defendant accepted that it was reasonably foreseeable that when the door to the property was open, the dog was unrestrained and the dog saw a stranger entering the property, the dog could bite the person entering the garden.  In that case the dog had been kept at an industrial unit as a guard-dog and therefore had been trained to act aggressively towards potential intruders.

In another successful claim, the claimant went to purchase some wine at an off licence. A German Shepherd dog was kept at the off licence as a guard-dog but was unrestrained. Whilst the claimant was paying for her wine, the dog jumped up from behind the counter and bit her on the face causing a facial scar. It was predictable in that case that the unrestrained guard-dog could jump up and potentially injure the customer. I recovered compensation for a claimant who was working at a small construction yard next to a residential property who was bitten by a police dog. The police officer was walking the dog on land adjoining the site, the dog ran through a small gap in a hedge and jumped onto the claimant causing arm and leg injuries. The claim succeeded because the police officer failed to properly control the dog allowing it to run some distance onto an adjoining property.

In another case, the claimant was a school caretaker and called the police after a break-in had occurred at the school. The police arrived at the scene soon after the break-in was reported and the claimant was instructed to accompany the police during a search of the school grounds and buildings. The police dog ran towards the claimant and jumped up biting his upper arm causing a severe laceration injury. The claim was successful because the school caretaker should not have been required to accompany the police during their search of the grounds as a suspect was believed to be within the school building at the time. The claimant could have provided the police officers with keys to the school building and therefore his participation in the search exercise was unnecessary, especially as the offender who was believed to be in the building at the time could have posed a risk to the claimant.

In a recent claim, the claimant worked as a veterinary surgeon and was bitten by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier dog whilst attempting to treat the dog at the surgery. The claimant was not provided with a suitable treatment table and had to treat the dog in a confined space at ground level causing the dog to panic and bite the claimant on the face, resulting in a scarring injury. In that case the dog could had not been muzzled prior to the examination. If a muzzle had been applied, it would have eliminated the risk of injury.  Further, if an electrically powered treatment table had been provided, the claimant would not have needed to treat the dog in a confined space at floor level reducing the risk of the dog panicking.

• Dog Bite Injury Claims in Bexleyheath
• Dog Bite Injury Claims in  London
• Dog Bite Injury Claims in Kent
• Dog Bite Injury Claims in the South East

Finally, thank you for visiting our Dog Bite Injury Claims page. We would also like to remind you that we are Personal Injury Claim Specialists in Bexleyheath, London, Kent, and the South East. Our office is located in Bexleyheath, a town in the London Borough of Bexley. We cover London, Kent, and the east of England, where several law firms provide legal services. When looking for legal advice or representation, it’s essential to consult with the law firm that best addresses your needs. Don’t hesitate to contact our solicitors for more information. Please follow our social media for regular updates.