Dog bite claims in Arizona are based on general principles of personal injury law. Still, there are some important differences, like statutes that provide for owner strict liability and a shortened statute of limitations.
Understanding these differences is key to making a persuasive dog bite injury claim in settlement negotiations or in a civil court case seeking money damages from the responsible parties. An experienced Phoenix dog bite attorney can help you sort out which rules apply to your situation and what your claim may be worth.
If you have been injured in a dog bite attack in Phoenix or elsewhere in Arizona, then after you receive medical attention, it’s always a good idea to consult with an experienced Phoenix dog bite attorney from Stone Rose Law.
Our personal injury attorneys have decades of combined experience representing dog bite victims in Phoenix and throughout Arizona.
We are thoroughly familiar with Arizona state laws and local ordinances governing dog owners’ responsibilities and potential liability. We can help you identify all potentially liable parties, negotiate a settlement for your injury claim with insurers, and take your case to court if necessary.
Call us at (480) 631-3025 to learn more in a free consultation about how one of our dog bite attorneys can help you evaluate your possible dog bite case, or use our online contact form.
Arizona has two statutes that apply to liability for injuries caused by dogs. One is the state’s strict owner liability law for dog bites, Arizona Revised Statutes (ARS) Section 11-1025, and the other is the dog-at-large statute, ARS 11-1020.
A common law approach to dog bite injuries was to apply the “One Bite Rule.” Under this rule, a dog could bite a person once, and the owner might not be held liable. The reason for this rule was that the dog could have been startled or frightened, and so its bite was out of character with its normal, gentler nature.
In Arizona, however, under ARS 11-1025, the “One Bite Rule” no longer exists. Instead, a dog owner is strictly liable for harm that the dog causes to anyone who is on public or private property at the time of the bite incident.
Strict liability is broad, but it applies only to bites and only when statutory conditions are met. When it applies, strict liability exists regardless of the dog’s prior bite history or the owner’s knowledge of any viciousness in the dog. In practical terms, this means an owner usually cannot avoid responsibility just by claiming the dog had never bitten anyone before.
Proving an owner’s strict liability for a dog bite under Arizona’s dog bite statute requires you to show all the following two key elements:
Arizona’s strict liability dog bite law does not protect wrongdoers. Anyone who enters the private property of another without permission, like a trespasser, or who is committing a crime on the property, like a burglar and/or trespasser, is not lawfully on the property.
People who can be lawfully present on private property owned by another without obtaining permission include social guests who were invited onto/into the property, customers in a store, postal delivery workers, utility workers, meter readers, and public officials.
The main thing to remember about Arizona’s strict liability law is that it applies only to the dog’s owner. No one else is held to strict liability, even another person in control of the dog at the time of the biting incident.
A second limitation on the application of the Arizona strict dog-bite liability law is that it applies only to dog bites. If a dog causes harm unrelated to biting behavior, like jumping and knocking you down, property damage, then the injured person must use negligence theory (not strict liability) to seek compensation.
A third limit on the applicability of the Arizona strict liability dog bite statute is that it specifically exempts some dog bite situations. These exceptions apply primarily to police dogs that bite someone during a law enforcement activity, such as an investigation, a warrant service, or an arrest.
Also, if a dog bites in response to provocation or in self-defense, strict liability will not apply.
ARS 11-1020 imposes liability when a dog is “at large,” meaning that it is off-leash or unconfined and causes injury or property damage. The owner, and/or any person responsible for the dog at the time of the bite incident, is liable for bodily injuries and property damage.
Unlike ARS 11-1025, the dog-at-large law covers injuries beyond bites, like being knocked down or chased by a loose dog.
The main proof element to show a violation of the dog-at-large statute is that the dog was loose or “at large.”
A possible affirmative defense an owner might raise to a claim under the dog-at-large statute was that even though the dog was loose, it was loose in a place authorized for a dog to be off-leash, like a designated area in a park for off-leash animals.
Note that both ARS 11-1025 and ARS 11-1020 can apply to the same dog bite incident.
If you intend to take legal action based on either the Arizona strict liability theory you only have one year from the date of your injury to file a lawsuit.
If you miss the one-year statutory deadline for a strict liability theory, you may still pursue a common-law negligence claim for personal injury, which has a 2-year statute of limitations.
Phoenix has several local ordinances that apply to dogs:
If you can prove that the dog owner violated any of these requirements, then the law will presume negligence on the part of the owner. You do not have to prove negligence occurred.
The Phoenix negligence-per-se statute, Phoenix City Code 8-16, also regulates what must be done after a dog bite incident:
The primary liable party is the dog’s owner. In Arizona, ownership generally means having care, custody, and control of the dog, so in some cases, more than one person could be considered an owner if they are jointly responsible for the dog.
Landlords are generally not liable under Arizona’s strict liability statutes because they typically are not the dog’s owner. But they can be liable under premises liability if they know a tenant’s dog is dangerous and fail to take reasonable steps to protect others.
For example, if a landlord was aware that a tenant kept a vicious dog and failed to enforce the lease pet restrictions or to warn other residents, then the landlord may be found negligent and held partly liable for injuries.
Arizona courts require evidence that the landlord knew of the dog’s aggressive nature and had the ability to control or remove the dog from the premises to impose liability in such cases.
Businesses or property owners other than the dog’s owner can also face liability in certain situations. Under ARS 11-1020, a person responsible for the dog at the time of an incident can be held liable. This can include caregivers or handlers, such as kennels, dog walkers, or groomers, who had custody of the dog and were negligent in controlling it.
Similarly, a property owner or business that allows a known dangerous dog on its premises could be held liable if a bite occurs. For example, if a store or business invites customers to bring dogs and fails to address an aggressive dog that later bites someone, the business could be liable under general negligence principles.
If you are successful in proving a liability for a dog bite injury, you can recover money damages for three kinds of harm.
Examples of economic damages include medical treatment costs, lost wages if the injuries caused you to miss work, and property damage costs.
Non-economic damages compensate you for intangible kinds of harm, like pain and suffering, emotional distress, disfigurement and scarring, and loss of enjoyment of quality of life.
In rare cases, like when the behavior of the dog owner is intentional (like if the owner turned the dog loose specifically so it would attack you), you can collect punitive damages in addition to direct and indirect damages.
The consequences of a dog bite can be immediate or delayed, short-term or long-term, and physical or mental and emotional.
Physical wounds from dog bites are usually soft tissue injuries that are not life-threatening. Common dog bite wounds include lacerations, puncture wounds, and bruising.
Depending on additional factors, like the size of the dog, the size of its bite victim, and the sensitivity of the bite area, more serious injuries can include avulsions and extensive blood loss.
Although dogs have a popular reputation for having “clean” mouths, a dog bite wound can transmit infections to you. The most well-known dog bite infection is tetanus. Other infections include septicemia and rabies.
Tetanus is an infection that can come from puncture wounds. Depending on the location of the infection, tetanus can lead to serious symptoms that, if left untreated, can lead to pneumonia, voice box spasms that can cut off breathing, pulmonary embolisms, seizures, severe kidney failure, and muscle spasms severe enough to cause bone fractures.
Septicemia is a bloodstream infection that can trigger an extreme immune response known as sepsis. Sepsis is seldom fatal, and most people will recover with medical treatment. Untreated sepsis can worsen into a more serious condition known as septic shock, a low blood pressure condition that can cause organ damage because of low oxygen supply in the bloodstream.
Rabies is a viral infection that almost always comes from the bite of an infected animal. Its main effect is to cause the brain to swell, leading to physical symptoms. Rabies is extremely rare in the United States. If treated early (before symptoms appear), then rabies is curable. If untreated, rabies is almost always fatal.
Sometimes, even though a dog bite may be non-life-threatening, it can still have lifelong consequences if the soft tissue damage is so severe that scarring results. For example, a serious dog bite wound to your face that causes permanent disfigurement is something that can have a lasting effect on your social life, and even your ability to enjoy some normal life activities.
A deep bite can do more than break the skin. When a dog’s teeth reach the nerves beneath, the result can be lasting numbness, tingling, weakness, or loss of function in the area that was bitten. Nerve damage to the hand or face can be especially hard to repair, and in serious cases, it may require surgery with no certainty that full feeling or movement will return.
A dog attack, especially by a large dog, can be a mentally traumatic event that leaves emotional scars just as long-lasting as physical ones. In Arizona, this kind of long-term emotional trauma is compensable as non-economic damages.
In rare cases, a dog bite injury can lead to the death of a loved one. Wrongful death is a legal claim that family members of the deceased person can seek a money damages remedy for the loss of life of the dog bite victim.
Arizona’s strict liability dog bite statute recognizes provocation of the dog as an affirmative defense. This means that the dog owner must bring up the defense for the court to consider it.
The statute specifically defines what “provocation” is: “tormenting, attacking or inciting a dog and includes the standard for determining provocation prescribed in section 11-1027.” 11-1027 sets forth: “Proof of provocation of the attack by the person injured shall be a defense to the action for damages. The issue of provocation shall be determined by whether a reasonable person would expect that the conduct or circumstances would be likely to provoke a dog.”
Arizona court cases that have considered the question of what provocative behavior is have found the following acts sufficient to support the defense of provocation:
The most important thing to do after a dog bite or an at-large dog attack is to seek appropriate medical treatment immediately, whether it is as simple as a tetanus shot or if hospitalization is needed for serious injuries.
Here are some other things you can do that can help your Phoenix dog bite lawyer to support your dog bite injury claim in settlement negotiations or in trial:
If you or a loved one has been bitten by a dog, you can turn to us at Stone Rose Law for the moral support and aggressive representation you deserve. Whether you need a dog bite attorney in Scottsdale, Chandler, or elsewhere in the state, our Arizona dog bite lawyers are here to help.
Call Stone Rose Law at (480) 631-3025 for more information and to schedule a free case evaluation with a qualified dog bite attorney today. Or if you prefer, contact us online to ask a question to a Phoenix dog bite attorney or to arrange for a free initial consultation.
