RI dog bite lawyer
The RI Supreme Court Upheld the “One Bite Rule” otherwise known as the “One Free Bite Rule” for Dogs within enclosures. In Dubois v. Quilitzsch, The RI Supreme Court upheld the so called one free bite rule. The top court declared, “If injuries are suffered within an owner’s enclosed area, the strict-liability statute does not apply, but rather the common law continues to apply and dictates that the plaintiff first must prove that the defendant knew about the dog’s vicious propensities, a requirement commonly known as the ‘one-bite rule,’ If injured by a dog in Rhode Island , contact a Rhode Island dog bite lawyer.
RI Court refuses strict liability for dog bite within an enclosure
The Rhode Island Supreme Court reasoned “Had the General Assembly wished to expand liability for incidents occurring within enclosed areas, it could have done so when enacting the strict-liability statute pertaining to incidents outside of enclosures, or at any later time, but it has not. As recently as 2003, in Montiero, 813 A.2d at 982, this Court declined to create a species-specific standard of care pertaining to dog bites, noting that the issue “is a policy matter that is better left to the [L]egislature.” We continue to be of the opinion that any modification to our dog-bite law is best left to the General Assembly.”
Rhode Island dog bite lawyer
RI dog bite law is different for dogs who cause injury or bite outside of the dog’s enclosure Rhode Island has strict liability for dogs causing injury outside of the dog’s enclosure. The old adage that “every dog gets one free bite” does not apply in Rhode Island when a dog causes injury outside of its enclosure! The RI Supreme Court stated “Strict liability attaches for any injury occurring outside the dog’s enclosure.” “Therefore, the dog-bite statute imposes strict liability in any circumstance wherein the dog is outside of its owner’s enclosure.” Johnston v. Poulin, 844 A.2d 707 (Rhode Isl. Sup. Ct., 2004). Every Dog Gets one Free Bite in RI if the dog is in its enclosure! The RI Supreme Court Upholds “One Bite Rule” otherwise known as the “One Free Bite Rule” for Dogs within enclosures
RI strict liability law for dogs outside of enclosure
§ 4-13-16 Action for damages to animals – Double damages on second recovery – Destruction of offending dog. – If any dog kills, wounds, worries, or assists in killing, wounding or worrying, any sheep, lamb, cattle, horse, hog, swine, fowl, or other domestic animal belonging to or in the possession of any person, or assaults, bites, or otherwise injures any person while traveling the highway or out of the enclosure of the owner or keeper of that dog, the owner or keeper of the dog shall be liable to the person aggrieved, for all damage sustained, to be recovered in a civil action, with costs of suit. If afterwards any such damage is done by that dog, the owner or keeper of the dog shall pay to the party aggrieved double the damage, to be recovered in the manner set forth and an order shall be made by the court before whom that second recovery is made, for killing the dog. The order shall be executed by the officer charged with the execution of the order, and it shall not be necessary, in order to sustain this action, to prove that the owner or keeper of the dog knew that the dog was accustomed to causing this damage.
Please contact RI dog bite lawyer (Rhode Island dog bite lawyer) David Slepkow
Legal Notice per Rules of Professional Responsibility: The Rhode Island Supreme Court licenses all lawyers and attorneys in the general practice of law, but does not license or certify any lawyer / attorney as an expert or specialist in any field of practice. While this firm maintains joint responsibility, most cases of this type are referred to other attorneys for principle responsibility.