Ask a Lawyer
Ask a Question

Posted Feb 1st, 2012
My neighbors dog broke the new fence and got into our yard (not 1st time). Our dogs were in the
yard and got to the dog. How liable are we?

Additional Details:
We had been putting up bricks and even chicken wire as we saw new holes starting to appear. I
thought the dog was dead at first. I walked past it it didn''t move or blink. I did look at it and I
swore it was dead. I called my husband at work and he called the sheriffs who said they didn''t
handle this kind of thing and to call animal control who didn''t open for another hour. When we did
call them an hour later they said there wasn''t anything they could do and that we weren''t liable.
About that time I looked out and the dog was gone. My husband arrived home then and found the dog
hiding in the yard. We then promptly went over to the neighbors and told them. They came over and
took the dog to the vet. She came yelling at me that her dog was struggling and was going to report
my dog as a killer if she did die. We tried to get the authorities involved because we have had
issues with her before. She tried to have my husband arrested for taking down a blown down fence
How worried should i be
Legal Topic Area: Animal Law in CA

Based on what you've written, I think the chance of you being found liable for the neighbor's dog's medical bills is slight. I don't read anything which would lead me to consider that you and your husband have been negligent in the management of your dogs, and you must be negligent before you can be found liable.

It is good to step back and apply some common sense to this matter: when another dog invades your dog's space, why is it unreasonable to believe that your dog will protect her space? Why are you at fault because your dog follows her nature, bred into her after thousands of years? My evaluation might change if your dog had gotten out, went next door, and attacked the neighbor's dog, or if you had let your known aggressive dog get loose in the neighborhood where it attacked a neighbor's dog.

If you have homeowner's insurance you should consider providing them the information about the potential claim and allow them to do their work to adjust or deny the claim. I suggest that you follow their suggestions.

Brian Chase,


BISNAR|CHASE, Personal Injury Attorneys.
http://www.BestAttorney.com
http://www.ProductDefectNews.com
800-956-0123.


Answered on Feb 2nd, 2012 at 11:29am