Dog Bite Law In Michigan
by Bret Schnitzer
There is strict liability against the dog owner if you are bitten or attacked and bitten by a dog. What this means is that the owner does not get to argue that they “did not have a dog that had bitten anyone before” as a defense to the dog bite case. The only defense available to the dog owner to a person lawfully on the premisses is “provocation”.The “provocation defense” means that the person who was bitten “provoked” the dog. Below is that dog bite statute in Michigan. Schnitzerlaw has recovered millions of dollars for dog bite and dog bite attack cases. Schnitzerlaw has handled hundreds of dog bite and dog attack cases over the past 25 plus years. We know how to handle dog bite and dog attack case and get top dollar recoveries for these cases. Call us at (313) 389-2234 for your free consultation.
LIABILITY OF OWNER FOR DOG BITE (EXCERPT)
Act 73 of 1939
287.351 Person bitten by dog; liability of owner.
Sec. 1.
(1) If a dog bites a person, without provocation while the person is on public property, or lawfully on private property, including the property of the owner of the dog, the owner of the dog shall be liable for any damages suffered by the person bitten, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness.
(2) A person is lawfully on the private property of the owner of the dog within the meaning of this act if the person is on the owner’s property in the performance of any duty imposed upon him or her by the laws of this state or by the laws or postal regulations of the United States, or if the person is on the owner’s property as an invitee or licensee of the person lawfully in possession of the property unless said person has gained lawful entry upon the premises for the purpose of an unlawful or criminal act.
History: 1939, Act 73, Imd. Eff. May 4, 1939 ;– CL 1948, 287.351 ;– Am. 1988, Act 142, Eff. Mar. 30, 1989