Indiana Dog Bite Injury Laws

When is a dog owner liable for a dog bite?

• Indiana’s dog bite laws
• Criminal liability for dog bites in Indiana
• Common defenses to dog bite claims
• Dog bite damages
• Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about dog bites and animal attacks

Hoosiers love dogs.

According to the most recent analysis conducted by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), Indiana has the 6th highest percentage of dog owners in the country.

Fortunately for U.S. Postal Workers and everyone else, the vast majority of dogs are friendly and don’t bite anything other than their chew toys. Nevertheless, dogs are animals and animals can be unpredictable.

So when a dog bites a person in Indiana, who’s liable?

Let’s take a look.

Indiana’s dog bite laws

When it comes to dog bites, most states apply 1 of 2 rules:

Indiana applies the one-bite rule in most situations. Therefore, in most cases, a dog owner will only be held liable for damages related to a dog bite if the owner knew or should have known that the dog was likely to attack or bite others without being provoked.

This rule can be thought of as a negligence law in the sense that the court will attempt to determine whether the dog owner failed to use reasonable care to prevent the dog from injuring the plaintiff in light of the dog’s past. If the dog has been violent before, the court will likely determine that the owner was responsible for taking certain steps to prevent dog bites (such as putting a muzzle on the dog when in public).

However, Indiana adopted strict liability for certain cases involving government workers. Specifically, a dog owner is strictly liable for a dog bite if the dog bites a person who:

• Is acting peaceably, and
• Is in a location where the person is required to be in order to discharge a duty imposed upon the person by the laws of Indiana (such as a local police officer), the laws of the U.S., or the postal regulations of the U.S. (such as a mail carrier).

Criminal liability for dog bites in Indiana

In certain situations, a dog owner may face criminal penalties for a dog bite.

A dog owner is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor if:

• The owner recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally fails to take reasonable steps to restrain the dog,
• The dog enters property other than the property of the dog’s owner, and
• As a result of the owner’s failure to restrain the dog, the dog bites or attacks another person without provocation, resulting in bodily injury to the other person.

The owner can be convicted of a felony if the injuries result in death.

Common defenses to dog bite claims

There are 3 primary defenses to a dog-bite claim that falls under the one-bite rule:

1. The owner had no way of knowing the dog would bite someone unprovoked (i.e., the dog had never exhibited violent or aggressive behaviors before)
2. The dog was provoked
3. The injured person was bitten while unlawfully on the owner’s property

In a strict liability situation, dog owners are mostly limited to the following defenses:

• The victim wasn’t bitten
• The victim was trespassing at the time of the injury
• The victim provoked the dog

Dog bite damages

Just like other premises liability lawsuits, a plaintiff in a dog bite lawsuit in Indiana can recover economic and non-economic damages, including:

If an individual is killed by a dog bite, the family of the deceased may be able to recover damages by filing a wrongful death lawsuit.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about dog bites and animal attacks

If you’ve been injured by a dog or other animal, an experienced Indiana personal injury attorney can help. Use our free legal directory to locate an attorney in your area.