Iowa has strict liability dog bite laws that hold the owner of the dog responsible for an attack, regardless of the circumstances. The owner is liable for the bite, even if it was the very first one involving the dog, or if the owner had no prior knowledge of the dog’s tendency to bite.
However, there are certain defenses that a dog owner may use to avoid liability. One of those is trespassing. In other words, the dog owner may claim restricted liability, by alleging that the victim of the dog bite was trespassing on the owner’s premises at the time of the attack.
Trespassers and Dog Bites
A trespasser is any person who has no right, permission or legal duty to be on a property. A person who enters a property without having permission to do so, or comes to a property in spite of being given an explicit warning to keep off the property, is considered a trespasser.
Determining who a trespasser is, is sometimes challenging. For instance, unless the dog owner failed to post “no trespassing” signs or other similar signs on his/her property, there is an implied permission to enter the property. A salesperson may be considered having permission to enter the property, even though not invited on the property.
Repo men likely will have a case for filing a dog bite claim despite trespassing as long as they didn’t “breach the peace” to retrieve the item for which they came. For example, if you are a repo man who arrived at a home with a duplicate key and simply walked on the property to get in the vehicle that was parked outside (not in a locked garage) and a dog bit you, you should speak with a dog bite attorney about a claim.
The law may also not recognize a child who climbs over a fence, and walks on a neighbor’s property to recover a lost ball, a trespasser. Although the child was not invited on the property, s/he is protected by the law. Iowa protects persons who enter another person’s property to recover belongings. The owner of the dog must prove in his/her defense that the injury was a direct consequence of the trespassing.
Determining if you were a trespasser, therefore, is crucial to your claim. However, even if you were a criminal at the time of the dog bite, you may still be eligible for compensation.
If you were injured in a dog bite when you were on someone else’s property without permission, you might find that your dog bite claim is complicated. The dog owner may use the trespassing defense to get your claim dismissed. Speak to a dog bite lawyer at Walker, Billingsley & Bair for advice about your rights in a situation like this: (641) 792-3595.
