Dog bite story - who is at fault?

[ArtichokeAardvark]

Heard a story on the grapevine today - friend of a friend of a friend scenario. Family with young daughter go to the house of an older couple (no kids) who have a rescue dog. Daughter is nursery age.

The couple know that their dog isn't safe with children so secure it in another room, and warn the girl and her parents not to go near the dog. Fast forward a couple of hours, adults are all chatting and there is a scream from the dog's room. The girl has gone in to pet the dog and been badly bitten.

Who is at fault here, morally but also legally? It's obviously an awful scenario but I feel just as sorry for the dog owners as for the girl... They will likely lose their dog now and they did everything right. You can argue it from every angle but I think the fault is with the parents for not supervising their child in a strange place... 😣

I would say the parents are to blame.

Did the parents think the dog was secured away as in that the door was locked? Did the owners actually tell them that it was locked?
If they did and it wasn’t then the owners are more at fault than the parents even although the parents bear some responsibility for not supervising properly.
If it wasn’t apparent to all that it wasn’t actually locked or the parents just assumed it was then both sets of adults are at fault for poor communication (at best) or outright neglect and lack of responsible pet ownership (at worst).
I suppose ultimately the responsibility lies with the parents for the wellbeing of the child.
Legally? I suspect that the police may view it differently and this might have a poor outcome for the dog. It will be difficult to prove that the parents were negligent but a dog bite is evidence of a dangerous dog, regardless of how well or otherwise the owners thought they were being safe.

I despite dogs, dog owners and dog culture so my gut reaction on your title was to say owner every time however on this occasion they seem to have behaved reasonably. They have put the dog away (none of this “it’s the dogs house too” nonsense) and warned that it is not safe around children.

It’s not the little girl’s fault - too little to know better. Morally it is the parents’ fault - they should not have allowed her to wander around unsupervised this house with this dog.

Legally however I think it is the owner’s fault - why you would keep an aggressive animal is a bit beyond me as well 😵‍💫

Of course it matters. If the owners are legally at fault then their dog can be seized and euthanised, they can be sued and end up with a criminal conviction.

Definitely the child’s parents, on many levels. They should supervise their child when visiting someone’s home. They shouldn’t have taken their child after being warned of the situation with the rescue dog, imo. It’s not the homeowners responsibility to ‘parent’ someone else’s child.

It's the fault of the dog's owners for a) keeping a dog that bites people and b) having visitors when the dog is in the house.

The parents are at fault here and there should be no consequences for the dog, or the owners.

I do question the morality of rehoming (both by the rehomer and the rehomee) of dogs that are unsafe to be around people though. IMO dogs like that have absolutely no place in society. This shows that even with strict management some dogs are dangerous. The dog should never have been rehomed in the first place! There are so many lovely dogs.

The parents are to blame, 100%.

The dog owners shut the dog away in another room. The dog or the dog owners didn't let the dog out of the room. The wandering/unsupervised child went into the room.

The dog owners are not responsible for 'policing' the child's whereabouts. That task falls to the parents - it's a standard parenting task. The swimming pool analogy is a good example. It's the parents responsibility to keep their child safe.

Poor dog, and poor dog owners.

We have a dog that wants to be cuddled all the time. Unfortunately this means he jumps into laps (we are actively training against this) but while we’re training him, if a friend with a toddler visits he is in a locked area well away from child with a lock that neither he nor child can open. He is only ever in the room with children muzzled, with a training harness and if hubs is there to hold it. Even then, the slightest reaction and he’s back locked apart. He is only in the room if the parent also is and for short - less than a minute - times, as we’re training him.

I would never, ever, ever, let him be in a room where a child could access him. He doesn’t nip or bite but he does constantly want attention and as he’s not small (collie) he could definitely knock a child over. If he’s in the locked room & a child leaves my sight I’m out and checking.

it’s hard and parents are definitely at fault but at least one of the dog owners should also have been keeping an eye out as accidents happen.

Ah yes, parents never have to take responsibility for their child.

Even ignoring the whole dog issue, letting your child wander around someone else’s home is just bad parenting - not to mention bloody rude.

The parents are at fault.

The dog owners shut the dog in another room.

They specifically warned parents and child of the risk.

They specifically said not to go in that room.

They don't have children - we can't assume they would know that the child would ignore the specific instruction. They may have thought that they would do as they were clearly told.

The parents, on the other hand:

Had been specifically warned that the dog could bite.

Had been specifically informed it was shut in a room.

Had specifically been told not to go in, or allow their child to go in, that room.

They ARE parents, so should have an understanding of their child and said child's ability to follow/ignore instructions.

As the parents they should have been watching their child.

Parents at fault.

I have a dog who dislikes children and a lot of people to be honest. He was a rescue. I’ve had him 11 years and he’s had the best life, he isn’t distressed at all, he knows when someone comes in the door he goes straight in my bedroom and happily snoozes there when we have visitors. He’s only exercised off lead in an enclosed field. In his younger days he would run with me. It’s possible to keep reactive dogs safe and happy.

I do think if I had small children visiting I would pop him outside into my van just to be on the safe side.

Yes, if the dog is that dangerous it should be able to be properly locked away to protect visiting children / workmen / paramedics etc.

BUT clearly shit parenting as well.

Poor kid and poor dog.

Legally, the owners would be held liable because they have the responsibility to prevent their dog from harming others. They put the dog into what they thought was a separate space, but it clearly was not secure if a small child could gain access.

The parents may be considered partly liable for not supervising their child properly.

I think legally the dog owner might be liable - I’m thinking of cases where burglars have hurt themselves in peoples homes and had the cheek to sue the homeowner - I would assume there is a risk the owner might be sued.

Assuming they have received medical help for the child there is likely to be come back from it.

Its the parents fault for not supervising their child and taking their child somewhere with a dangerous dog, but I think there is a high chance that the dog owner will be blamed and there might be fallout for them and sadly the dog if it is reported.

If this is an actual real story, I hope the dog wasn't destroyed and the child was OK after medical intervention.

All of them. The parents should be watching the kid and the couple shouldn’t be keeping a dangerous dog and should be making sure it’s out of bounds in any case.

I think mainly the parents - the child was nursery age therefore max age 3/4 maybe younger? You don’t leave children that age to wander around strange houses, especially ones with dangerous dogs. Could have been the front door and the child could have wandered in to the road.

I think though the owners should also be thinking of muzzling the dog and keeping him in a room far away from
guests. I’m guessing the child didn’t wander all the way upstairs for example.

Awful situation.
I'd say the owners took reasonable steps to make sure the dog was safe and warn the parents the dog was child-aggressive.
The child is the parents' responsibility and they should have been closely watching what she was doing so that she didn't have the opportunity to enter the dog's room.

Having said that, I've occasionally had very young children at my house around my dogs and I've watched the children like a hawk, following them from room to room if necessary. That's not because any of my dogs have been biters but because young children can't be expected to know how to approach dogs correctly, how to read their body language, or know when a dog has had enough and wants to be left in peace in its bed etc etc.

Some would say I've been hypervigilant but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

This is a sad situation all round.

Entirely the parents fault. What sort of parents let their small child out of sight in someone else's house? Especially as there are no little kids living there, so they couldn't reasonably expect that the owners would have completely childproofed the place. The child could have found bleach, or stairs, or a pond, or a pair of scissors etc. This should be fully investigated by social services; it's hard to believe the first time they forgot to adequately supervise their child was the time they were warned about a dangerous dog on the premises.

Real story, yes. Why would I make it up? Child went to a&e and was patched up. I don't know what has/ will become of the dog, that's what started me thinking.

Parents fault, they shut the dog away so the owners took the right steps

The parents are fools for taking a young child into a home with a dangerous dog in the first place.

Thanks for confirming. Happy that the child was able to be patched up and didn't need surgery. Accidents happen due to negligence all the time. All the adults were in the wrong, the child was too young to understand the consequences and needed to be supervised. Really, better protection should have been in place. Hindsight would be wonderful. The dog is not at fault but I think it definitely needs some behavioural training to see if it's aggressive nature could be fixed. If not, it won't be long til it attacks someone else unfortunately. Feel for the dog here too, can't have had a happy life beforehand.