Dog owners assume the risk

Ask the Lawyer

By Stewart J. Berger

Dear Ask the Lawyer:

I have a question about off-leash dog parks.

I have been taking my dog to a fenced in off-leash dog park for the last year or so.

Yesterday, four or five large dogs were having a major racing competition. One of the dogs - an overweight yellow lab - rammed into me so hard that I fell over and broke my ankle. The owner was very apologetic, but meanwhile, I am in an air cast for the next four weeks.

Do I have any chance of winning a lawsuit against the dog's owner?

Mary

Dear Mary:

In my opinion, you have little or no chance of success.

There is a doctrine in Pennsylvania called Assumption of Risk. When you enter a fenced in off-leash dog park, you assume the risk that a playing or racing dog will bump into you and cause you to fall.

In your case you suffered an injury, although fortunately, a relatively minor injury.

Have you ever noticed that most of the people supervising their dogs in these off-leash dog parks either sit on the benches if one is provided or stand against the fence? They do this to protect themselves from racing and playing dogs.

There is a possible exception to this rule, but it probably does not apply to your case.

If the yellow lab was a dog with known vicious propensities, that is, he had a fetish for banging into people, causing them to fall down, hoping to break a human's bones, then you may have a case.

In my opinion, the chances of success on this theory are about equal to your going to Mars for an extended weekend vacation.

When you entered the dog park, you assumed a known risk, that is, of being knocked over by playing or racing dogs.

As soon as your ankle heals, go back to the dog park, only this time stand against the fence while the dogs play and have fun.

Stewart J. Berger is an attorney with offices at 7207 Rising Sun Ave. Questions and comments may be addressed to Ask The Lawyer, c/o The Northeast Times, 2512 Metropolitan Drive, Trevose, PA 19053