Does Breed Matter in a Tennessee Dog Bite Injury Claim?

Dogs are often referred to as “man’s best friend” – and for good reason. They can be loving and loyal companions. Unfortunately though, sometimes dogs bite and when they do they can cause a lot of harm. Whether it’s due to fear, playing gone too far, poor training, or any other reason, each year dogs bite more than 4.5 million people, with 800,000 of them receiving medical treatment. Some people think it’s at times related to the dog’s aggressive breed.

But despite the stereotypes and assumptions that befall certain specific breeds, any breed can bite a human being. This hasn’t stopped hundreds of cities from enacting breed-specific legislation as one part of their dog bite laws.

Local Tennessee Dog Breed Ordinances

In the state of Tennessee, under the law, all dogs are required to be kept under “reasonable control.” This means that they may not run free in public areas. But while this helps to establish liability in bite cases, it doesn’t set any differences for specific breeds. However, while the state itself has not implemented breed-specific legislation, some cities and towns have done just that. These special laws commonly target pit bulls and other larger work breeds.

Breed-specific legislation takes a variety of forms throughout Tennessee:

● Bans – Bans prohibit ownership, reproduction, or breeding of a specific type of dog breed. Bans are most commonly put in place against pit bulls and while they don’t usually require people to get rid of their already existing pit bulls, they prevent future ownership.

● Restrictions – While not as harsh as a ban, restrictions place special prohibitions on specific dog breeds and their owners, such as requiring certain breeds to be muzzled when taken for a walk.

● Declarations – A declaration is a breed-specific law that announces that a breed is considered dangerous and issues certain regulations for dog owners in order to prevent a dog from first attacking. This may include things such as microchipping, higher registration fees, or additional liability insurance.

● Special permits – These permits may be required to own certain types of dogs in certain cities.

Strict Liability

Under Tennessee’s dog bite law there is strict liability for canine-inflicted injuries in certain circumstances.

Under the state’s law, a dog owner is liable if:

(a) The owner fails to keep the dog under reasonable control, or

(b) The dog is running at large

Under the statute an “owner” is “a person who, at the time of the damage caused to another, regularly harbors, keeps or exercises control over the dog, but does not include a person who, at the time of the damage, is temporarily harboring, keeping or exercising control over the dog.”

Additionally, “running at large” is defined as “a dog goes uncontrolled by the dog’s owner upon the premises of another without the consent of the owner of the premises, or other person authorized to give consent, or goes uncontrolled by the owner upon a highway, public road, street or any other place open to the public generally.”

If the owner fails to control his or her dog and the dog is running at large and bites or injures someone, the owner will be held strictly liable for the dog bite regardless of whether he or she had any idea as to their dog’s dangerous propensity.

The “One Bite Rule”

If the dog is on its owner’s property and bites someone who is invited onto the property, what is known as the “one bite rule” applies. This means that the victim must prove that the dog owner “knew or should have known of their dog’s dangerous propensities.” If they had no reason to have known, they would likely not be held liable. This is also known as the “Residential Exclusion”.

Under Tennessee’s laws there are two other exceptions to the “One Bite Rule”:

1. If a dog is doing police or military work or protecting someone from being attacked, or is securely confined in a kennel or something similar; or

2. If the victim provoked the dog.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of a dog bite or if you are an owner of a dog that has bitten someone, it’s in your best interest to consult with a knowledgeable and experienced Tennessee personal injury law attorney who has experience with dog bite accidents.

Robert BatesRobert is a Kingsport trial lawyer who handles car, truck and motorcycle wreck cases across the Tri-Cities. Every client gets his cell number.