Liability for dog bite incidents | Legal Aid Centre

Questioner

2 weeks ago my 10 year old son went to walk our dog. On a leash. Further down the street a large dog broke out of the garden and ran towards my son and dog. My son was so shocked by this that he pulled our dog towards him on the leash to protect it. Unfortunately our dog fell over on its back, causing a number of worlds to shift. Result: a paralyzed dog. The neighborhood dog did not touch our dog. The owner of the neighborhood dog went with us to the vet. She indicated that she would at least pay half of the costs for that day. I did not really respond to this, not knowing what would happen. Fortunately, thanks to good therapy our dog can now walk again, albeit a bit clumsily. Now I went to her to ask how she was insured, since with a third party insurance you are also insured for your dog. Can I hold her liable for this?

Lawyer

She should have made sure that the dog would not escape and because this did happen and this situation arose. You can then also hold her liable for the costs. If she does not want to reimburse the costs, you can take the case to a judge. If you would like further help and/or advice, please feel free to contact me.