Rising costs from dog-bite-related claims are pushing regulators to take a firmer stance on insurance coverage requirements for homeowners with high-risk pets.
Earlier this year, the Volusia County Council in Florida approved an ordinance requiring owners of dangerous dogs to carry at least $500,000 of liability insurance.
The criteria the council uses to determine whether a dog is dangerous includes:
- The dog has, without provocation, aggressively bitten, attacked, or endangered a human being, or has inflicted severe injury on a human being on public or private property; or
- Has more than once, without provocation, severely injured or killed a domestic animal while off the owner's property; or
- Has been used primarily, or in part, for the purpose of fighting, or is a dog trained for dog fighting; or
- Has, without provocation, chased or approached a person upon the streets, sidewalks, or any public grounds in an aggressive, menacing fashion or apparent attitude of attack, provided that such actions are attested to in a sworn statement by one or more persons, and dutifully investigated by the appropriate authority.
The ordinance notes that a dog shall not be declared dangerous if the threat, injury or damage was sustained by a person who, at the time, was unlawfully on the property, or while lawfully on the property, was teasing, tormenting, abusing or assaulting the dog or its owner or a family member.
It also says that no dog may be declared dangerous if the dog was protecting or defending a human being within the immediate vicinity of the dog from an unjustified attack or assault.
In the slideshow above, we’ll look at five of the million-dollar-plus dog-bite lawsuit rulings and settlements in recent years that have shaped the current liability landscape.
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