Can You Sue Over a Dog Bite Dog Bite Liability in Florida

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• Publié par: trafficmonsters
• Publié le: 19 décembre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 8
• Langue: English

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Can You Sue Over a Dog Bite?
Dog Bite Liability in Florida Florida’s dog bite statute, Title 45 Section
767.04, imposes on dog owners liability
subject to specific exceptions for bites
that injure any person in a public place
or lawfully present in a private place.
Negligence by the person bitten reduces
the owner’s liability by the percentage
the negligence contributes to the
incident.
http://www.sslegalfirm.com/blog/person
al-injury/can-you-sue-over-a-dog-bite-
dog-bite-liability-in-florida An owner is not liable, except as to
anyone under the age of 6 and except for
his own misconduct, if at the time of the
injury the owner had posted in a
prominent place a conspicuous sign
warning of a bad dog.
This statutory remedy is in addition to
any other by statute or common law.
The dog-bite statute applies to the owner
only and not to a custodian or keeper of
a dog, Belcher Yacht, Inc v Stickney, 450
So2d 1111, 1112 (FL 1984). Common
law remedies are available in situations
not covered by the statute, Ibid.
Negligence, the failure to exercise the
ordinary care of a reasonably prudent
and careful person, is another ground for
dog-bite liability in Florida. For example,
allowing a stray dog into a day care
center playground is negligence
Negligence per se, a doctrine similar to
strict liability, can apply if the bite occurs
because the dog owner violates a
statute, ordinance, or regulation for
public safety. Examples are violation of a
leash law or a law prohibiting dogs at
large. In Florida, violation of a nontraffic
penal statute is such negligence as a
matter of law. DeJesus v Seaboard Coast
Line Railroad Co, 281 So2d 198, 201 (FL
1973). As every Miami dog-bite attorney knows,
the traditional or common law doctrine of
scienter imposes liability for harm
inflicted by a domestic animal. As applied
to dog bites, this doctrine enables a
victim to recover compensation from an
owner or keeper of a dog aware that it
had bitten someone else previously.
Scienter is a ground for liability in every
state. In Florida, scienter can impose
liability on someone other than an owner
of a biting dog. A landlord has a duty to take action to
protect tenants from known vicious dogs,
Ramirez v ML Management Co, Inc, 920
So2d 36, 39 (FL 4th DCA 2005). In that case, a landlord aware that a
tenant’s pit bulls had menaced other tenants
but took no action was liable for damages
when the dogs attacked another tenant’s
child off the premises but in an adjacent
park the landlord had advertised as an
amenity; however, a landlord has no duty to
act to protect third parties injured by a
tenant’s dog away from the premises, Tran
v. Bancroft, 648 So2d 314, 315 (FL 4th DCA
1995). A Miami dog-bite attorney can
explain the nuances of this distinction in full
detail.
In Florida, a dog-bite victim under the age
of six is legally incapable of contributory
negligence, Swindell v Hellkamp, 242 So2d
708, 710 (FL 1970). The jury or trier of fact
decides whether older children understand
and avoid danger and may be comparatively
negligent. If a child’s parent fails to exercise
supervision to prevent a dog bite, the jury
may apportion fault to the negligent parent,
YH Investments, Inc, v. Godales, 690 So2d
1273 (FL 1997), and reduce the liability of
the dog owner or custodian accordingly. Under the dog-bite statute, there is no
liability if the victim is six years of age or
older and the incident happens on the
dog owner’s premises with a conspicuous
warning sign in a prominent place easily
readable for actual notice. If the victim is
too young to read the sign, this provision
does not apply.
http://www.sslegalfirm.com/accident-
lawyer-miami/personal-injury.php/