Attacked by a Dog

by | Jun 7, 2014 | Personal Injury & Torts, Pets & The Law

My lovely little pet – a revolutionary approach

Those who have a pet (mainly a dog), love pets, or want to buy a pet should at least be aware of the actual legal situation in Israel.

Try to answer the following question:

Which of the answers below is correct (there are 3 correct answers) and is a defense in a lawsuit regarding any type of damage caused by a dog?

Note that these are all real answers coming either from plaintiffs or defendants – from my clients or my client’s opponents.

  1. My little doggy could never had caused such a huge scar on that big man, he is not a victim but an “actor” trying to enrich himself on my expenses.
  2. My dog is old and calm, we all know that a 15 year old dog who had never attacked anyone, would not do this for the first time at this age. Maybe It wasn’t my dog at all who did that to the victim,
  3. My dog was attacked by the victim’s dog therefore my dog attacked the victim.
  4. I was attacked by the victim first, that’s why my dog attacked the victim, almost killing him.
  5. My dog and his dog were fighting, it’s not my problem that the victim tried to separate the dogs.
  6. My dog attacked the victim because he climbed over my fence onto my property putting his hand inside my territory. I had a sign saying “dangerous dog” because my dog was free inside my courtyard.
  7. My dog attacked the victim because he climbed over my fence onto my property putting his hand inside my territory. I did not have a sign saying “dangerous dog” but my dog was not free inside my courtyard, he was tied to a chain, I don’t know what happened.
  8. My dog attacked the victim because he climbed over my fence onto my property. He didn’t put his hand inside my territory but his face was too near the fence. I had a very big sign saying “dangerous dog”.
  9. The victim kicked my dog, as a result my dog attacked him violently in order to defend himself.
  10.  The victim was hitting that little child when my dog saw him, he tried to defend that child, who happens to be my neighbor’s nephew. It is the victim’s fault.
  11.  I just bought a new leash but it apparently had a defect in the production and it broke causing the dog to go free. It is the manufacturer’s fault, not mine.
  12. The dog just came from the veterinarian who gave him a wrong type of vaccine, causing the dog to be really nervous and in pain. It’s the veterinarian’s fault.
  13. The victim was attacked by a dog but not MY dog. No, I cannot provide hard evidence about this, but another dog was in the vicinity when the victim was attacked.
  14. That man, the victim is a grown up person, if he fell and got hurt just because the dog suddenly barked at him, it’s his fault.
  15. The victim, that 3 year old boy was alone in the streets, unattended. He was screaming his head off so my dog got really upset and barked at him, if the victim fell and broke his arm, it is not my dog’s fault at all.

The answers:

The correct answers are number: 4, 6, 9 and only these!

Answers: 11 and 12 are a reason to sue someone else (the manufacturer or the veterinarian) but not a defense. We call this “Odaat Tsad Gimel” in Hebrew. It means you add a third person in the lawsuit and if you lose you may be compensated by the third party but the plaintiff will be able to collect from the third party or you.

The law regarding dogs:

The law is a very short and dry law. There are very few “excuses” or defenses if your dog causes damage to a third party, and the burden of the proof in this case is not on the plaintiff’s shoulders, but only on you.

You have to provide clear evidence demonstrating that you have an acceptable defense according to Israeli law and ruling.

The consequences of a dog’s attack:

In my law firm we’ve seen everything in the last almost 50 years of experience, except for a person being killed by a dog.

We’ve seen mutilated faces and limbs, crippled people, serious psychological damage, childhoods destroyed in years of treatment and surgery and much more.

The financial side:

One can never know how much will be granted as compensation, awards can vary from 5 thousand shekels to a few millions.

Financially, a big compensation to be paid to the plaintiff can cause total financial destruction to a family. Many times we’ve seen a plaintiff win a case but cannot collect from the defendant because he has no means to pay and/or goes bankrupt.

A revolutionary approach:

What is the difference between a car and a dog regarding damages? In my opinion it should be no different.

For example, the government can and should oblige a dog’s owner to purchase compulsory insurance for his dog as he must do for his car.

An insurance policy:

An insurance policy would solve many problems.

Lawyers would better handle these cases because they would be dealing with lawyer’s specialized in the field (hired by insurance companies), making the process easier and faster. In addition, the victim would be certainly compensated because the insurance company is a solid business and will have the money to pay any amount decided by the judge.

A last statement:

As much as I want to have sympathy for a dog and his owner, it is unacceptable to call a dog or his owner a victim, as many do.

The victim is always the person attacked, even those who were at fault and somehow caused the dog to attack them.

The attacked is always a victim because he will suffer pain and may even be crippled, in addition to the money he will lose for his lawyer’s fees and compensation.