4.7 million dog bites occur in the United States every year. Insurance companies annually pay out over $600 million on dog bite liability claims. Damages are typically covered by the dog owner’s homeowners or renters insurance. The average value paid out on a dog bite claim in the US is roughly $40,000 nationwide.
Washington follows the doctrine of strict liability for dog bites. The Washington Dog Bite statute RCW 16.08.040 prescribes liability for the dog owners regardless of their fault. The victim is entitled to compensation even if it was the dog ‘s first act of aggression, and the dog owner had no reason to suspect that the dog has vicious propensities. It is not a defense that the attack took place at the dog owner’s home, so long as the victim was there lawfully and the dog was not provoked. In contrast, if the victim was trespassing or if she did something to provoke the attack, the dog owner would have a complete defense.
A classic example is a postal worker who enters someone’s premises to deliver a package and is bitten by a dog unprovoked. In this example, the dog owner is liable.
Under Washington’s Dangerous Dog Law, RCW 16.08.070, a dog that bites someone unprovoked is considered a Potentially Dangerous Dog and must be reported to the authorities immediately.
It was a complete defense in common law if the dog owner had no reason to know about the dog’s dangerous propensities. In other words, if the dog never bit anyone before, the owner would not be liable. As an old adage goes, “each dog is entitled to one free bite.”