If you or your child has suffered catastrophic injuries after being attacked by a dog, you may be wondering what legal options are available to you when the dog’s owner refuses to accept responsibility for the actions of their canine.
Fortunately, there are steps you can take to seek full payment of the losses you or your child has endured due to the attack. Read on to learn more about Illinois dog bite laws and when the dog’s owner is liable.
In some states, when a dog bites, attacks, or otherwise causes injury to another, dog owners can escape liability if their dog has never shown a propensity for violence or aggression in the past. This is known as the one-bite rule.
As you can imagine, living in a state that follows the one-bite rule could make obtaining compensation for your suffering a challenge if the dog in question has never been known to attack. Thankfully, Illinois does not follow the one-bite rule and instead holds dog owners strictly liable for the behaviors of their dog, no matter its history.
Living in a state that protects injury victims in this way can only benefit you if you make the decision to pursue a civil claim against the dog owner for the damages you have endured. However, there are certain exceptions to dog owner culpability, and you’ll want to be aware of these exceptions as they are a great defense for the dog owner.
Illinois’ strict liability dog bite law only applies to individuals who are attacked in public. This means that, if you were trespassing on the dog owner’s property and were attacked, the dog bite law will not allow you to hold the owner accountable.
Mail distributors, law enforcement, and other public services providers such as emergency medical technicians, for example, will not be considered trespassing while performing these public services.
Another exception to strict liability of dog owners is provocation. If you or your child behaved in a manner that provoked the dog to act aggressively toward you, the owner cannot be held accountable.
Such types of provocation might include teasing, taunting, abuse, hitting, kicking, yelling, or otherwise acting in a violent or aggressive manner towards the dog. If you are unsure whether trespassing or provocation will influence the outcome of your dog bite injury settlement, you should speak with your civil claims lawyer.
If you have been attacked by a dog and are interested in holding the dog’s owner accountable for their pet’s actions, a highly trained Rockford personal injury lawyer at Mahoney & Mahoney, LLC may be able to help.
We provide complimentary claim reviews to injury victims across Rockford and its surrounding cities. You can give our office a call at 815-656-4600 or submit the online contact form on our website to schedule yours.
At Mahoney & Mahoney, LLC, practicing law is a family tradition. Tim and P. Michael Mahoney are a father and son team, and going back one generation further, Francis X. Mahoney had a distinguished career as both a judge and an attorney. P. Michael Mahoney has himself been a judge, and Tim is widely recognized as one of the top lawyers in Northwestern Illinois.... View full business profile here: Mahoney & Mahoney, LLC
