A guide to dog bite law in the UK
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If someone is bitten or injured by a dog in the UK then there are usually two options for making a claim for compensation.
The first involves the Animals Act 1971 and the second the law of negligence. Both routes to compensation involve complex legal analysis and we strongly recommend that you take expert advice from a solicitor who specialises in animal law.
Our team of specialists have huge experience of dealing with claims involving animals and solicitors James McNally has been dubbed by The Guardian newspaper as ‘Mr Dog Bite’.
We operate a free legal helpline and would be happy to carry out an initial assessment of your case without charge.
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Animals Act 1971
The Animals Act 1971 is a very complex and often confusing piece of legislation. It sets out the circumstances in which the dog’s “keeper” (defined in the Act as the owner or person in possession of an animal) can be held responsible for the actions of their dog. The Act is confusing because over the years different judges have interpreted it in different ways and it is therefore sometimes a little difficult for victims of dog bites to know exactly where they stand.
One of the most important and controversial interpretations is that the Animal Act imposes “strict liability” on the keeper of a dog for its’ actions. This means that someone can be held responsible for an injury caused by their dog regardless of whether or not they themselves are at fault. This interpretation of the law was decided following a case where a horse got out a field and onto a motorway where it collided with a car, the owners were found to blame even though they had kept the horse secure and had done nothing wrong. Even though this case involved a horse the law applies just the same for dogs.
Section 2 (2) of the Act sets out a three stage test which needs to be satisfied before strict liability can attach:
Where damage is caused by an animal which does not belong to a dangerous species, a keeper of the animal is liable for the damage, except as otherwise provided by this Act, if –
- the damage is of a kind which the animal, unless restrained, was likely to cause or which, if caused by the animal, was likely to be severe; and
- the likelihood of the damage or of it being severe was due to the characteristics of the animal which are not normally found in animals of the same species or are not normally so found except at particular times or in particular circumstances; and
- those characteristics were known to that keeper or were at any time known to a person who at the time had charge of the animal as that keeper’s servant…
According to the Act the damage caused by a dog therefore has to be (a) Likely and (b) caused by a characteristic of the dog which was (c) known about by the defendant.
Defences to the Animals Act
Obviously dog bite law is not as straightforward as saying, “Your animal bit me and therefore you’re legally responsible.” The Act offers defences to the strict liability finding. It is a defence for instance that the person injured was either totally or partially at fault for what happened, or if they voluntarily accepted the risk of injury. It could also be a defence if they were trespassing at the time and the animal that attacked them wasn’t being kept on the premises to guard them.
Allegations of Negligence
As an animal’s keeper a potential Defendant owes a “duty of care” to people who may come into contact with that animal. If they don’t do all that they should or do something that they shouldn’t and their animal injures someone then it is said that they have “breached their duty” and have been negligent. The mere fact that a dog might bite someone would suggest that the dog owner has been negligent because they failed to properly control the animal. Knowledge again plays a part as for a dog owner to be held negligent it would have to be shown not just that they potentially failed to prevent the accident but also that they were aware that the accident could happen. So for a dog owner who has no knowledge of whether or not a dog has acted aggressively in the past there may be nothing wrong with allowing someone to stroke their dog. As far as they are aware they had no way of knowing that the dog would react as it did.