Legal Question in Personal Injury in New Jersey

Re: Prevent dog bite with sign

If you now have reason to believe that your dog may be unreasonably dangerous to other people, then you have an obligation to take reasonable steps to prevent that danger, whether that is posting warning signs, putting a muzzle on the dog, keeping the dog leashed, keeping the dog confined to the house, or, if the dog is truly vicious, putting the animal to sleep.

If you fail to put a warning sign up, and the dog does bite someone, and you are sued, you would still have to testify truthfully if asked about whether you knew beforehand that the dog might be dangerous.

The presence of the warning sign is simply evidence of your knowledge. The lack of a sign does not mean that you did not have the knowledge, it is simply the lack of one piece of evidence which could be used to prove that you did know about the dangerous nature of the dog.

If you were to testify truthfully, you would have to say that you knew the dog might bite someone, had thought about putting up a warning sign, but the only reason you didn't put a sign up was because you didn't want to provide evidence that you knew the dog would bite someone, in case it did bite someone. It seems that you would be worse off if you knew the dog might bite, but deliberately failed to put a warning sign up.

The only way not putting the sign up "helps" you is if the dog bites someone, you are sued, and you are willing to lie on the witness stand (e.g. perjure yourself) about whether or not you knew the dog might bite someone.

But, perjury is both illegal and unethical, so I'm sure you wouldn't do that.

I strongly recommend that you consult with an attorney immediately so that you can explore your legal rights, obligations, and options. If you wish to discuss retaining my services, contact me at:

[email protected]

(973)-605-8995

(*Licensed in New Jersey, Maryland, and Dist. of Columbia)

[Disclaimer: The above comments are not intended as nor should they be relied upon as "legal advice", which can only be obtained by personal consultation with a retained attorney; at which time the specific facts and circumstances of your case can be thoroughly evaluated. This reply is provided for general informational and educational purposes only, and does not create an attorney-client relationship with the responding attorney.]

Re: Prevent dog bite with sign

In New Jersey, dog bites are strict liability on the owner of the dog....meaning the owner is responsible no matter what. The sign could prevent someone from wandering in your backyard but it would not have an effect good or bad on you being sued for a dog bite.