"Beware of Dog" "No Trespassing" and liability
Hey Guys!
I was wondering if any of you have a "Beware of Dog" and/or '"No Trespassing" signs on your property. And are you worried about liability if your dogs were to bite a strange who manages to get on your property.
I was wondering if any of you have a "Beware of Dog" and/or '"No Trespassing" signs on your property. And are you worried about liability if your dogs were to bite a strange who manages to get on your property.
Comments
in FL, as of a new law a few years ago, it is now legal to shoot [ to kill ] trespassers & you will not be held liable.
I wonder...if a dog bites a trespasser if it's considered the same, or if you're held liable. Interesting.
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But then again, the nice thing about dogs --- even if they are super friendly --- I imagine they deter most people from sneaking on your property to begin with. ~
For example, every Doberman I have met has been the SWEETEST pup. But I imagine when someone sees a Dobie on the property they think twice about trespassing---no matter how sweet the pup is. ~
It's maddening that this UK law essentially perpetuates the "Who knew?" response.
(There's lots of good stuff in this book- another point was about how when a dog breed is presented as "tough" it attracts "substandard owners" (authors words) and ideal families shy away from choosing that breed anymore. The same dogs would shine with the good owners, but the tough image sells them short to really unfortunate homes who never own up to their care or management of the dog and perpetuates the cycle of everyone else percieving that "there's an awful lot of (insert demon breed du jour) biting people without warning! Yikes!")
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Re: No trespassing signs
I am learning that in Vermont it is not enough to just put up a No Trespassing sign. It is very rural there and people hike, hunt and skimobile and so forth across the land. Most of the area we are going to is in the Green MountainNational Forest- public land. There are 4 criteria that must be met for your sign to be binding: land must be amply posted every 200 feet, the sign must include a date, the landowners name and phone number. If any criteria is missing, you can technically proceed to walk through. I think hunters know it is courtesy to get permission (hence the phone # i suppose)
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We dont have any sign on our yard, but a very good fence- 6 foot high solid fencing on the road side of the fence- the other sides are 4 feet woven wire mesh and bordered by woods. I do not leave my dogs out unsupervised where any kid could go around through the trees and attempt to interact with them. Many people find my dogs scary looking, even when they are being still and calm, and only rarely have I had anyone rush up to see them.
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Ditto Osy about dobies- every one I have met, walked with, lived near, gone camping with has been a sweetie and calm as porridge.
Mostly because my dogs are NEVER unattended. If they are in the yard, I am. If I go inside for a second, they come with me.
Mostly because both Miko and Ruby are the kind of dogs that would easily be stolen. Oddly despite the fact that pit bulls are overrun shelters, and those of us who work in rescue are always desperate to find homes for wonderful pit bulls, they are still regularly stolen right from peoples yards.
Pit Bull Placebo is brilliant, and I agree an absolute must read.
On dobermans, I knew one scary one. And it further proves that it a dogs back story is very relevant. Her name was Sandy. She was terrified of children and tall men with hats. Sandy had been tortured by her previous owners. The man of the house would put out cigarettes on the poor girl and his son broke a bottle over her head. It is no wonder she was terrified often. I was 8 when I knew her, and I was the only child she didn't growl at (although in hindsight I am still shocked my mom and dad let me play with her). She regularly growled at my father and my sister, and bit her owners grandson. She was fortunate enough that her family knew and understood her story. She is the only scary doby I have known. Jay's grandfather always had dobermans. And they were essentially perfect dogs.
My family raised and bred, GSDs. They were hugs, and I am sure plenty of people were afraid of them. But these dogs were the most gentle precious dogs ever.
I have digressed.
Any way I have no signs. And do my best to never have anyone around my dogs without me present. They are very very friendly dog but I still don't ever want to set them up for failure.
My family in New Mexico had a Great Pyrenees and a tiny long-haired Doxie and were required to have a Beware of Dog sign on the fence to their yard...because a neighbor kid ran over and picked the old Doxie up and got a good nip on the hand. Heather the Pyr is the sweetest (dumbest) dog ever but people assume the sign is about her.
-- We have "No Trespassing" signs but NOT "Beware of Dog" signs. I have been told that having a "Beware of Dog" sign is an admission of guilt - you are admitting you have a "dangerous" dog on the property. It's all of our legal right to post "No Trespassing" on our property, and its a subtle warning that you don't want people on your property w/o consent. (Luytiy is a less-subtle warning LOL)
And are you worried about liability if your dogs were to bite a strange who manages to get on your property.
-- Haha. YES! We have added "Dog Bite Liability" (aka "Animal Liability") insurance through this company: http://www.xinsurance.com
Obviously, that doesn't protect us from a criminal suite, but it will cover the costs of legal and hospital. They will also fight for you in court.
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-- I think it probably is, but it is also a legitimate preventive measure - a sign is not. With a muzzle the dog cannot bite, even if the person doesn't get the "message"... With a sign, the dog can still bite - and young children might not be able to read signs. Also, we (sometimes) use our muzzles when we are in public, but in the case of a sign the dog is not in public.
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When someone approaches the house Luytiy & Masha makes A LOT OF NOISE. I mean, they make it VERY CLEAR you should not be here. With Blue and our Akita, not so much. They may bark, but they do not sound as "viscous" as the CO. But if you got in our yard I think you have just as likely of a chance of being bitten by Blue as you do Luytiy, and the Akita a close second.
So, I wonder if Luytiy & Masha actually help to reduce our liability exposure? I mean, aren't they basically just a VERY BIG "Beware of Dog" sign?
Perhaps having a very nasty sounding dog helps to protect people from being bit by our Akita or CC?
"Quiet dog bite hard" -Mos Def link @2:00
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I was curious about the beware of dog sign as I had heard it both ways - A) you are admitting there is a reason to beware of your dog and should know something may happen so will be more likely to be found guilty;
The first always seemed more accurate, but I was never sure.
I live in Birmingham, UK and have a "Caution - Dogs Running Free" sign at the front of my property and along the fencing along the sides and rear of my back garden I have signs dotted at regular intervals that are easily visible stating "No liability will be accepted for any injury or damage to trespassers or their property". Should anyone choose to break in, they will have definitely seen the signs and take their chances wih the 4 dogs I have here (2 GSDs, 1 GSD/Akita, 1 Norwegian Buhund).
So in a nutshell, should someone trespass on my property, whether they get their clothes and skin ripped to bits on the razor wire just inside my property at the top of the fencing, or whether they get partially eaten by the dogs is their problem. Of course there is always the muppet who tries to burgle a property then blame the property owners when they get hurt.
Fortunately I was legally trained whilst a Police Officer. During that time it became clear to me that most Officers don't know anything more than the basic criminal law they work with on a day to day basis - and even then it's ignored if it doesn't fit in with the relevant force policy.
Laura
My father sold security systems in Detroit for many years and found out, to post "This Home Protected by ..." only got your phone lines cut before your windows were broke and your stuff stolen.
Best to have a concealed weapon, than one that warns your assailant.
Was the Injured Person Trespassing?
In most states, dog owners aren't liable to trespassers who are injured by a dog. But the rules are convoluted and vary significantly from state to state.
In general, a trespasser is someone who wasn't invited on the property. Unless you warn people off your property with signs or locked gates, you are considered to have given an "implied invitation" to members of the public to approach your door on common errands - for example, to speak with you, try to sell you something, or ask directions.
Without at least some such implied invitation, someone who ventures onto private property is a trespasser. In one case from Nebraska, a child visiting relatives stuck her hand through a fence to pet the neighbor's dog; she was found to be a trespasser.39 Similarly, a court ruled that a ten-year-old who climbed over a fence to retrieve a ball and was bitten by a dog was a trespasser, and could not sue the dog's owners for his injury.40
A general rule is that a dog owner who could reasonably expect someone to be on the property is probably going to be liable for any injury that person suffers. This rule is particularly important when it comes to children. Even a dog owner who does not explicitly invite a neighborhood child onto the property will probably be held liable if it's reasonable to know the child is likely to wander in - and dogs are a big attraction to children. In other words, there is a legal responsibility either to prevent the child from coming on the property or to keep the dog from injuring the child.
Specific legal rules that determine whether or not a dog owner is liable to an injured trespasser vary from state to state. Here are the basics.
Dog-bite statutes. Most dog-bite statutes do not allow trespassers to sue for an injury. The owner is liable only if the person injured by a dog was in a public place or "lawfully in a private place." That means that the injured person must have a good reason for being where he was. Mail carriers, for example, are always covered. Police officers performing their official duties are not considered trespassers, either.41 Neither is anyone else who has an invitation, express or implied, to be on the dog owner's property.
Example. A woman going door to door to take a survey was let into a house, where she was knocked down and bitten by a dog. The front yard of the house wasn't fenced, although a cartoon-like "Trespassers Will Be Eaten" sign was displayed in the window. An Arizona appeals court ruled that the survey-taker entered the property with the implied consent of the residents, so she could sue under Arizona's dog-bite statute, which applies only if the person injured is "lawfully" in a private place.42
Common law rule. If the state follows the common law rule - which imposes liability on a dog owner who knew a dog was dangerous - technically, the fact that the injured person was trespassing doesn't matter. So if the common law rule were applied strictly, if you know your dog is dangerous, and it bites a burglar who breaks into your house, you're liable. In practice, however, courts and juries are reluctant to hold a dog owner liable to a trespasser. Many courts have softened the rule to avoid unjust results. Some have modified the rule to say that a dog owner, even one who knows a dog is dangerous, isn't liable if the dog hurts a trespasser.43 Some say that the common law rule doesn't apply to trespassers if the dog is a guard dog.44
Another way courts get around an unfair result is by allowing the dog owner to charge that the victim, by trespassing, either was partly to blame (see "Was the Injured Person Careless?" below) or knowingly took the risk of injury (see discussion above). If the dog owner can prove either of those circumstances, liability may be reduced or eliminated altogether.
Negligence. The states don't agree on whether or not an injured trespasser who sues a dog owner for negligence (unreasonable carelessness) can win.
In some states, an injured trespasser can sue and win if the dog owner acted unreasonably under the circumstances.
Other states still use an old legal rule that landowners are liable to injured trespassers only if the landowner, after knowing the trespasser was on the land, intentionally harmed the trespasser or failed to warn of the danger. There is an important exception to this rule: generally, a landowner has a duty to protect trespassing children, who don't have the judgment to avoid dangerous situations.45
Reminder. Injured people can and do sue on more than one legal theory. So someone might raise two claims in a lawsuit, one under a state's dog-bite statute and one based on the common law theory.
Of course thats all assuming this website is correctly interpreting the law.
Nice find!
If anyone is dumb enough to open the front gate while the dogs are in the front yard with me yelling at them to not open said gate, then it is their own stupid fault if they get eaten by Bella.
I have also worked with Bella so that if someone knocks on the door, she can go bonkers and bark/growl, but she has to be leashed before I open the door. So far, that has worked very well.
However, I do like the idea of getting a 'dogs on premises' sign for emergency purposes. Not that there will ever be any doubt that there are dogs on the property... If someone unknown comes near the house unexpectedly, Bella makes quite a display.
Yea, nice find, Sean!
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ETA: There are also those signs that make snarky comments about how the potential trespasser can't outrun the dogs. Along with a no trespassing sign, it would warn of the presence of dogs and imply that they could be dangerous, but all it really says is that the dogs are fast runners. Like so:
Or, you could get a sign that said "No Trespassing: Guardian Dogs on Duty"... I think that would be less likely to shout 'dangerous dog'. (Funny how three little letters can make a huge difference)