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The Landlord’s Responsibility In Dog Attacks


If you or a loved one has suffered injuries as a result of a dog attack in Dallas-Fort Worth, you have a legal right to make a claim for compensation against the vicious dog's owner to cover the cost of your medical bills and other related expenses. However, as a Texas personal injury lawyer, I know that since 61 percent of dog bites occur either within the home or within a familiar place, there is a high likelihood that you will know the owner of the animal which attacked you. If that is the case, then there is absolutely no reason not to pursue a claim. You're claiming against their insurance, not against them personally. That's why we all buy insurance after all.

If you live in an apartment complex, it quite likely that your dog attack occurred upon the premises. Not all neighbors are considerate of others and some negligent owners allow their pets to roam freely around the complex without regard or care for other people's safety. If a dog is running at large, it puts all other tenants at risk of being attacked because the dog regards them as strangers. There is no telling what might trigger an attack from such an animal. It could be that a young child tries to play with the stay dog, but the animal misinterprets the kid as a threat. Perhaps a resident is carrying in groceries up some steps and the dog smells something it likes and jumps in the way. One common scenario I've seen time and again as a Fort Worth dog attack attorney is that the victim will be walking their own dog on a leash when another unleashed and unattended dog attacks my client's dog, causing the owner to become tangled in the leash often causing very serious injuries.

Regardless of the circumstances, Texas law requires us to prove either that the dog's owner was guilty of either Strict Liability (that is, they had existing knowledge of their animal's vicious propensities) or Negligence which contributed to the attack taking place.

Landlords have a responsibility too. If you are renting an apartment or other property from a landlord and you were attacked by someone else's dog while on the landlord's property, you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation against them in addition to the dog's owner. If the dog attack occurred in a common area under control of the landlord and the landlord had knowledge of the risk the dog posed to other people, then the landlord has failed to fulfill their duty to ensure the safety of their residents, which means your personal injury lawyer can make a claim against them too.

For more information and to discuss the specific circumstances of your own individual dog attack case, please contact the Anderson Law Firm. You can contact us online or call us toll free at 800-354-6275. Alternatively, you can call us locally in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-237-8000. Our attorneys have a great deal of experience in handling a variety of different dog attack cases throughout the DFW metroplex and across the North Texas region.


 Other Articles You Might Be Interested In:
Winning Your Texas Dog Attack Case: Proving Owner Negligence
Strict Liability: Making a Claim against a Vicious Dog Owner
Vicious Dog Attacks Resulting In Wrongful Death
Making a Dog Attack Claim When The Owner Is Someone I Know
Injured When Another Dog Attacked Your Pet





The Anderson Law Firm offers free no obligation consultations to people injured in accidents or who have suffered physical harm as a result of someone else's actions. We do not charge you to initially discuss your situation and establish whether you have a claim to pursue. You can call us and discuss your case over the phone, we can set up an appointment for you to come into our office, or we can visit you in your home anywhere in the metroplex.

If after meeting with us you decide that we are the best personal injury lawyer for you, then we will enter into a contingent fee agreement. This means that we only get paid when we win a settlement or jury verdict in your favor. You don't pay us anything up front. We will cover all expenses spent working on your case. Only when we win for you will you need to pay us. If we don't win, then you owe us nothing.

Contact us online now or call us 24 hours a day toll free on 1-800-354-MARK (1-800-345-6-275). You can also call us locally in Fort Worth on 817-294-1900 or in Dallas on 214-327-8000.


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