While the law creates strict liability for injuries caused by dogs, as all that is necessary is for the party suffering from a dog bite is to show that the fact of the injury and that the person is the owner of the dog, it does not create absolute liability in that the owner or deemed owner of the dog has Defences which he may raise.
The owner or deemed owner of a dog may, in his Defence, raise the point that the person who was bitten was a trespasser on the premises. A person is a trespasser on premises if he was not given permission to be there, for eg. a burglar. If he is bitten by a dog on the owner’s premises then he is taken to have consented to being injured as the owner would then have no responsibility to keep the dog chained or away from a trespasser who had no right to be there. Naturally if a person is invited to the premises, then the owner will be liable for any injury caused as he has a duty to his guests to ensure their safety.
Contributory negligence may also be a Defence raised by the owner or deemed owner of the dog. This Defence entails showing that the person injured contributed to his own injury. This means that the injured party either did something or did not do something which partly caused the dog to bite him. This could take the form of children, or even adults, teasing a dog or a person ignoring a sign that there are dangerous dogs on the premises.
Another Defence available to the owner or deemed owner of a dog is that the injury was caused by the act of a stranger or the act of an intervening third party. This may take the form of another person untying a dog thereby causing it to escape and bite a person either on or off the premises. It may also include a person leaving the gates of the premises open and the dog leaves and bites someone on the road. This Defence is only available however if the owner can show that he had done everything reasonably possible to prevent third parties from meddling with the dog and thereby causing the dog to injure another person.
An owner or a person who could be deemed the owner of a dog should therefore take due care that his dogs are either kept within the gates of his premises or if there are visitors they should ensure that the dog is chained or kept in a place away from any visitors to the premises. In all the circumstances those who seek to enter premises that have dogs should take extra care. Indeed, a word to the wise is sufficient.
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