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Dog Owner Liability For Maryland Dog Bites Under The Law
Maryland dog owners can be liable for dog bites and other injuries caused by their pets, as dictated by three specific sets of laws. These circumstances and the standards that affect dog owner liability are as follows:
If the dog owner knew the dog had a tendency to cause injury…
One bite rules in certain states excuse the owner from liability for the first bite of the dog. Under the common law of England, a dog was assumed to be entitled to one bite. However, once the dog has bitten someone it is considered to have shown vicious behavior. The owner is thereafter on notice of its violent propensities and is liable for any subsequent attacks.
In Maryland, there is no one bite rule. Instead, there are two theories of liability, one is statutory, while the other is under Maryland’s common law.
An owner of the dog is liable for the first bite as long as the victim was lawfully on the property and the victim did not provoke the dog.
Under Maryland’s common law, the victim only has to prove that the owner of the dog knew or should have known that the dog had vicious tendencies..
If a dog bite occurs in a state with a one bite rule, if the dog has already bitten someone, the dog owner is strictly liable for any dog bite injury caused by the pet, regardless of the underlying circumstances.
In Maryland, a dog bite statute is in effect. There are three key points to the statute:
Knowing that the dog could be dangerous is irrelevant:
Knowledge of the dog’s viciousness is irrelevant under the statute. The dog could have been well behaved its entire life, never before biting anyone. Under this statute the first bite can trigger liability.
You must be lawfully on the property:
The owner of a dog will be liable if the dog attacked while the voctim was on either public property or while the victim was lawfully on private property if not trespassing or committing a crime. In other words, if you were invited onto the dog owner’s property as a guest or a potential customer, then you were lawfully on the property and can likely recover for your injuries. Special rules apply to children who happen to be on property when they are bitten.
Assuming the victim was lawfully on the premises whne he or she was bitten, the only defense the dog owner can assert is provocation. If you were bitten after you provoked the dog, then you may be barred from recovery.
Provocation does not have to be done intentionally; instead, it can be done accidentally. In other words, you do not have to intend to anger the dog. If your act would have caused a regular dog to bite, then it could be considered provocation under Maryland law, barring your claim.
If, for instance, the plaintiff accidentally stepped on the dog’, causing the dog to bite the plaintiff’s leg. A jury found this to be adequate provocation. The Court of Appeals denied the dog owner a new trial by holding that the plaintiff’s intent was immaterial.
If the injury was caused by extreme carelessness of the owner of the dog will be considered to have breached his or her duty, even though the incident may have been accidental.
Negligence laws in some states deem the dog owner liable.
The elements of any negligence action are duty, breach cause and injury.are Duty, Breach, Causation, and Damages also known as Injury.
Duty is an obligation owed by one person to another. Thus, a driver owes a duty to every other driver to drive sober in a prudent manner and to obey traffic laws. In the context of a dog bite, a dog owner, or one who has control over a dog has a duty to protect the public at large from being bitten by a dog.
Breach is the failure of one person to observe his or her duty to another person. In the case of a dog bite, a breach would be the failure of the person having control of the animal to take reasonable steps to prevent a bite.
Cause might also be expressed as fault. Thus although everyone has a duty to avoid trespassing on another’s property, if a person is violently shoved onto someone’s property he or she cannot be guilty of a breach of duty since he or she did not intend to breach the duty not to trespass. If a third party sets a dog on an innocent person, then the owner of the dog has committed no breach.
Injury is the cost whether in dollars and cents or in pain and suffering to the person who is bitten. If a toothless dog bites someone, although there might be a culpable breach of duty, injury or damages might be minimal.
In Maryland, the dog bite statute did not abrogate the common law rules. Under Maryland common law, the dog owner can be liable if he or she knew or had reason to know that the dog was dangerous. This dog owner will then be liable if the injury occurred because the dog owner was careless by not putting a leash on the dog, failed to adequately supervise the dog, or did not use a proper sign to warn of the dangerous dog.
Maryland Dog Bite Damages
Based on the specific scenario, in addition to assuming liability, a dog owner may also be responsible to reimburse the injured person for medical or psychological bills, pain and suffering caused by the attack, mental anguish, lost wages among others.
We Can Help With Your Maryland Dog Bite Case
The various types of Maryland dog bite laws can be very confusing. That is why it is very important for you to speak with a Maryland attorney who specializes in Maryland dog bites. Our law firm has achieved fantastic results for dozens of seriously injured children and adults bitten or knocked down by Maryland dogs. Call or email us today for a free consultation. 410-486-1800.
Peremptory Challence A court may allow each side in a common or criminal trial the privilege to prohibit a specific number of planned hearers without cause or giving a reason.
Petition. Report that starts the recording of an insolvency continuing, putting forward fundamental data with respect to the borrower, including name, address, part under which the case is documented, and assessed measure of benefits and liabilities.
Petition preparer A business not approved to specialize in legal matters that plans liquidation petitions.
petty offense A government offense deserving of six months or less in jail. 1
Parole The release of a prisoner after the prisoner has finished some portion of his or her sentence in a government facility. At the point when the parolee is discharged, he or she is put under the supervision of a parole officer. The Sentencing Reform Act canceled parole in favor of a determinate sentencing framework in which the sentence is set by sentencing rules. Presently, without the alternative of parole, the term of detainment the court forces is the genuine time the individual spends in jail.
Offended party A man or business that records a formal objection with the court.
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Plea In a criminal case, the defendant's reply to charges. The defendant will plead guilty or not guilty.
Pleadings Arguments recorded with the court that portray a gathering's legitimate or authentic attestations about the case.
Postpetition exchange An exchange of the account holder's property made after the initiation of the case.
Plan An indebted person's point by point depiction of how the account holder proposes to pay leasers' cases over a settled timeframe.
Prebankruptcy planning. The course of action or improvement of an account holder's property to permit the borrower to take greatest favorable position of exclusions. Prebankruptcy planning commonly incorporates changing over nonexempt resources into excluded resources.
Precedent A court choice in a prior case with realities and legitimate issues like a question right now under the watchful eye of a court. Judges will for the most part take after point of reference - implying that they utilize the standards built up in before cases to choose new cases that have comparative truths and raise comparable lawful issues. A judge will ignore point of reference if a gathering can demonstrate that the prior case was wrongly chosen, or that it contrasted in some huge path from the present case.
Presentence report. A report arranged by a court's post trial supervisor, after a man has been indicted an offense, outlining for the court the foundation data expected to decide the proper sentence.
Pretrial meeting A meeting of the judge and attorneys to arrange the trial, to talk about which matters ought to be exhibited to the jury, to survey proposed confirmation and witnesses, and to set a trial plan. Normally, the judge and the gatherings likewise examine the likelihood of settlement of the case.
Pretrial administrations. A component of the government courts that happens at the very begin of the criminal equity prepare – after a man has been captured and accused of an elected wrongdoing and before he or she goes to trial. Pretrial administrations officers concentrate on examining the foundations of these people to help the court decide if to discharge or keep them while they anticipate trial. The choice depends on whether these people are probably going to escape or represent a risk to the group. On the off chance that the court orders discharge, a pretrial administrations officer manages the individual in the group until he or she comes back to court.
Preference An obligation installment made to a loan boss in the ninety day time frame before an indebted person records insolvency or inside one year if the bank was an insider that gives the leaser more than the lender would get in the borrower's part seven case.
Party in interest. A person who has standing to be heard by the court in a matter to be chosen in the chapter 11 case. The borrower, U.S. trustee or chapter 11 chairman, case trustee, and creditors are parties in interest.
Per curiam Latin, signifying for the court, ordinarily referring to an unsigned opinion.
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Need The Bankruptcy Code's statutory positioning of unsecured cases that decides the request in which unsecured cases will be paid if there is insufficient cash to fork over the required funds.
Proof The procedure for directing a claim; there are guidelines of common methodology, criminal strategy, confirmation, liquidation, and re-appraising technique.
Proof of claim An argument giving the reason a debtor owes a lender money, which commonly puts forward the amount of money owed. There is an official form for this reason.
Property of the estateAll legitimate or impartial interests of the indebted person in property as of the initiation of the case.
Indict To accuse somebody of a wrongdoing. A prosecutor tries a criminal case for the benefit of the legislature
Need guarantee An unsecured claim that is qualified for be paid in front of other unsecured cases that are not qualified for need status. Need alludes to the request in which these unsecured cases are to be paid.
Pro per A slang expression some of the time used to allude to an ace se defendant. It is a debasement of the Latin expression in propria persona.
Pro se Speaking to oneself. Filling in as one's own legal counselor. procedures.
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Sanction A punishment or other sort of implementation used to realize consistence with the law or with guidelines and directions.
Plans Records put together by the borrower alongside the appeal or presently demonstrating the account holder's benefits, liabilities, and other money related data. There are authentic structures an indebted person must utilize.
Secured creditor A secured creditor is an individual or business that holds a claim against the account holder that is secured by a lien on property of the bequest. The property subject to the lien is the secured leaser's guarantee.
Secured claim Obligation for which the creditor may seize particular property upon default.
Sentence The discipline imposed by a court for a wrongdoing.
Pro tem. Impermanent.
Probation Sentencing alternative in the government courts. With probation, rather than sending a person to jail, the court discharges the individual to the group and requests him or her to finish a time of supervision checked by a probation officer and to comply with specific conditions.
Probation officer Officers of the probation office of a court. Probation officers supervise presentence examinations, plan presentence investigations, and regulate discharged respondents.
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Reaffirmation agreement An understanding by a debtor to keep paying a dischargeable obligation after the chapter 11, ordinarily with the end goal of keeping guarantee or sold property that would some way or another be liable to repossession.
Senior Judge A government judge who, in the wake of achieving the required age and length of legal experience, takes senior status, in this manner making an opportunity among a court's active judges. A senior judge holds the legal office and may decrease his or her workload by as much as 75 percent, however many pick to keep a bigger caseload.
Redemption A technique in a Chapter 7 case whereby an indebted person expels a secured leaser's lien on insurance by paying the loan boss the estimation of the property. The borrower may then hold the property.
Reversal The demonstration of a court putting aside the choice of a lower court. An inversion is frequently joined by a remand to the lower court for further
Record A composed record of the procedures for a situation, including all pleadings, proof, and displays submitted over the span of the case.
Remand Send back.
Sentencing guidelines Standards that trial judges use to decide the sentence for an indicted litigant.
Sequester To isolate. Once in a while juries are sequestered from outside impacts amid their considerations.
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