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Editor: Jeffrey Harlan Penneys, Esq.
Profession: Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney

Category: Pennsylvania Dog Bite Laws

In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, dog owners are strictly liable for medical bills in all cases. In other cases where the dog inflicted "severe injury" on a victim, the dog owner is also liable for pain and suffering, therapy, past, present and future medical expenses, permanent scarring and out-of-pocket expenses, even if the dog bit/attacked without provocation, and even if the dog had never previously bit a person.

However, a dog bite victim that was bitten but not "severely," has to prove that the dog in question had bitten/attacked at least one before. This is commonly referred to as the "one bite rule."

The Pennsylvania Dangerous Dog Statute is the group of statutes inluding 3 P.S. § 459-501-A through § 459-507-A, and is commonly known as the Dangerous Dog Statute. The statutes are as follows:

Section 502. DOG BITES; DETENTION AND ISOLATION OF DOGS

(a) CONFINEMENT - Any dog which bites or attacks a human being shall be confined in quarters approved by a designated employee of the Department of Health, a State dog warden or employee of the Department of Agriculture, an animal control officer or a police officer. Such dog may be detained and isolated in an approved kennel or at the dog owner's property. Where such dog is detained is at the discretion of the investigating officer. All dogs so detained must be isolated for a minimum of ten days. Any costs incurred in the detaining and isolation of such dog shall be paid by the offending dog's owner. When the dog's owner is not known, the Commonwealth is responsible for all reasonable costs for holding and detaining such dog.

(b) BITE VICTIMS - The investigating officer shall be responsible for notifying the bite victim of the medical results of the offending dogs confinement. Any cost to the victim for medical treatment resulting from an attacking or biting dog must be paid fully by the owner of such dog. The Commonwealth shall not be liable for medical treatment costs to the victim.

(c) EXEMPTION - When a dog that bites or attacks a human being is a service dog or a police work dog in the performance of duties, said dog need not be confined if it is under the active supervision of a licensed doctor of veterinary medicine.

If the dog bite victim requires compensation over and above the medical costs, the victim must prove one of three things:

(1) The dog owner was negligent.
(2) The dog had a dangerous propensity to bite people.
(3) The attack was a violation of the dangerous dog law because of the seriousness of the injuries.

The Pennsylvania dangerous dog law:

It is a crime to keep a dangerous dog in Pennsylvania:

Section 502-A. REGISTRATION

(a) SUMMARY OFFENSE OF HARBORING A DANGEROUS DOG - Any person who has been attacked by one or more dogs, or anyone on behalf of such person, a person whose domestic animal has been killed or injured without provocation, the State dog warden or the local police officer may file a complaint before a district justice, charging the owner or keeper of such a dog with harboring a dangerous dog. The owner or keeper of a dog shall be guilty of the summary offense of harboring a dangerous dog if the district justice finds beyond a reasonable doubt that the following elements of the offense have been proven:

(1) The dog has done one or more of the following:

(i) Inflicted severe injury on a human being without provocation on public or private property.
(ii) Killed or inflicted severe injury on a domestic animal without provocation while off the owner's property.
(iii) Attacked a human being without provocation.
(iv) Been used in the commission of a crime.

(2) The dog has either or both of the following:

(i) A history of attacking human beings and/or domestic animals without provocation.
(ii) A propensity to attack human beings and/or domestic animals without provocation. A propensity to attack may be proven by a single incident of the conduct described in paragraphs (1)(i), (ii), (iii) or (iv).

(3) The defendant is the owner or keeper of the dog.

(a.1) EFFECT OF CONVICTION - A finding by a district justice that a person is guilty, under subsection (a), of harboring a dangerous dog shall constitute a determination that the dog is a dangerous dog for purposes of this act.

When a person has been convicted of a crime, the conviction may be used in a civil claim as proof that the defendant's conduct was negligent.

Criminal consequences

The owner of a dog that attacks a person can go to jail, and the dog must be put down, if the requirements of the following law are met:

(c) ATTACKS CAUSING SEVERE INJURY OR DEATH - The owner of any dog that, through the intentional, reckless or negligent conduct the dog's owner, aggressively attacks and causes severe injury or death of any human shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree. In addition, the dog shall be immediately confiscated by a State dog warden or a police officer, placed in quarantine for the proper length of time and thereafter humanely killed in a expeditious manner, with costs of quarantine and destruction to be borne by the dog's owner.

A "severe injury" is "any physical injury that results in broken bones or disfiguring lacerations requiring multiple sutures or cosmetic surgery." (The Dog Law, sec. 102.)

In Commonwealth v. Hake 738 A.2nd 46 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1999) it was held that a single incident of infliction of severe injury imposes criminal liability under the above statute, therefore eliminating the "one free bite" interpretation under the prior version of the Dangerous Dog Statute. The Court stated:

"The 1996 amendments to the Statute no longer require that the dog be found specifically 'dangerous.' After the amendments, the Statute imposes liability where any of the following situations arise:

(i) a dog, while on public or private property, inflicts severe injury on a human being without provocation; or

(ii) attacks a human being without provocation and where the dog has either a history of attacking human beings or animals without provocation or a propensity to attack human beings and/or domestic animals without provocation.