Liability for dog bites - Free advice

Questioner

My dog ​​was recently bitten by another dog. Now I have already seen in article 6:179 that the owner of the other dog is liable for this. The insurer of the other party indicates that they do not want to reimburse because my dog ​​was also running loose and that I therefore took a certain risk. The dogs were walking in an 'official' off-leash area. I do not agree with the insurer's position. In my opinion, that would mean that if I were bitten, it would also be my own fault because I ran a certain risk What is your position on this?

Lawyer

If the dogs were allowed to run loose, the owner of the biting dog is in principle liable, whereby you can also be accused of having accepted the risk that your dog will be bitten. In that case, there is actually a question of own fault, which cannot be compared to people. The insurer's position is unfortunately correct in this case. For more information or help, you can contact me directly for free.

Lawyer

I do not share Mr Biharie's opinion. In my opinion, it goes too far to assume that the mere fact that the dogs were running loose in an area where this is permitted is therefore an own fault. In a similar case in which a cat was bitten by a dog, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal held the owner of the dog liable for the damage on the basis of Article 6:179. If you wish, I am prepared to assist you in this matter. You can contact me directly for this.

Questioner

Thanks for both responses. Given that it seems to be a somewhat unclear area and especially given that the 'damage' is less than 100 euros, it seems excessive to me to start a case for this. Again, thanks for your quick responses!!!