Legal Question in Personal Injury in Indiana

While walking our dogs on a paved walking path, we saw a woman approaching so we got off of the path to let her pass. My dog was on a leash and stopped next to the path when the woman approached my dog without asking permission or if he was friendly. She quickly leaned over and reached her hand to out to my dog when he jumped up on her. She said that he bit her but I could not see since I was directly behind the dog, attempting to pull his leash (and thus him) back towards me. She apologized, so did I and we both walked away. A moment later, she called out that he broke the skin and asked if he was current on his rabies vaccine (he is) and asked for my name. She pulled back her sleeve and I saw a small cut on her arm with a small drop of blood. She then left the area. A few hours later, the local deputy came to our house to fill out the animal bite report. He informed us that the lady received 3 stitches and her arm was bandaged. He commented that the wound could have been made from a tooth or nail. I had suspected that the dog's nail punctured her skin when he jumped on her. The deputy told us the dog must be quarantined at home for 10 days. He did not give us a ticket/citation.

My dog is 9 years old, 110 pounds and has never bitten or attacked anyone previously. He is protective and territorial and I think that the way the woman approached my dog probably scared him and that is why he reacted the way he did. She had been walking very quickly and I expected her to pass by us but she stopped suddenly and reached out to my dog. The fact that she didn't ask me if it was okay makes me angry too. Who would approach such a large, unfamiliar dog in this manner!! The fact that she apologized immediately after it happened, indicates to me that she knew what she did was wrong. What steps should I take now to protect my dog and myself at this point?


Asked on 11/30/09, 1:24 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

There is little that you can do other than to keep your dog leashed and avoid strangers. Make sure that you step further away so that a similar event cannot happen. Also, when someone approaches and starts toward the dog, warn the person to stay away. I agree with you that the other person should not have approached as she did, nevertheless she did.

Now that this has happened once, you have notice that your dog will jump and possibly bite. so you run a real risk of liability in the future.

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Answered on 12/05/09, 9:18 pm


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