Under Connecticut dog bite laws, the owner or keeper of a dog is strictly liable for any injury the dog causes to a person or property. You do not have to prove the dog had bitten before, and you do not have to prove the owner was careless. If the dog did the damage, the owner pays, subject to a few narrow defenses. You generally have three years from the date of the attack to file suit.
Strict Liability Under Section 22-357
Connecticut General Statutes Section 22-357 is the backbone of the state’s dog bite law.1Justia. Connecticut Code 22-357 – Damage by Dogs to Person or Property It makes the owner or keeper responsible for damage the dog causes to a person or their property, regardless of whether the owner knew the dog was dangerous or did anything wrong. Connecticut has no “one free bite” rule. A dog with a ten-year clean history and a dog with a known record of snapping are treated the same way once an injury happens.
The statute reaches more than bites. If a dog knocks someone down, jumps on them, or causes them to fall off a bicycle, the owner is liable for the resulting injuries. The focus is on what the dog did, not what the owner knew.
What an Owner Can Raise as a Defense
Strict liability is not absolute. The statute carves out exceptions when the injured person was trespassing, committing another wrongful act, or provoking the dog by teasing, tormenting, or abusing it at the time of the incident.1Justia. Connecticut Code 22-357 – Damage by Dogs to Person or Property The burden is on the owner to prove it. A general argument that the victim “shouldn’t have been there” is not enough; the owner needs real evidence that the victim’s conduct triggered the attack.
Children under seven get extra protection. The law presumes a child that young was not trespassing, teasing, or tormenting the dog, and the owner has to overcome that presumption with evidence.1Justia. Connecticut Code 22-357 – Damage by Dogs to Person or Property In practice, that is a difficult burden to meet.
Who You Can Hold Responsible
Liability under Section 22-357 reaches beyond the person on the dog license. Anyone acting as a “keeper” of the dog can be held equally responsible. Connecticut courts define a keeper as someone who provides shelter or food, or who exercises control over the dog’s daily activities. A family member watching the dog for a few weeks, a long-term houseguest who feeds and walks it, or a friend caring for it all potentially qualify.1Justia. Connecticut Code 22-357 – Damage by Dogs to Person or Property
Simply knowing a dog is in the house is not enough. Courts have required active caretaking or actual control. When the owner or keeper is a minor, liability shifts to the parent or guardian, so there is always a responsible adult behind the obligation.1Justia. Connecticut Code 22-357 – Damage by Dogs to Person or Property
When a Landlord Can Be on the Hook
Landlords are generally not “keepers” just because they own the building where a tenant’s dog lives. Renting to a dog owner, without more, does not create strict liability. The Connecticut Supreme Court has, however, recognized that a landlord can be liable under a common law premises liability theory when the landlord knew about a tenant’s dog’s dangerous tendencies and failed to act. Prior complaints from other tenants, concerning behavior the landlord personally witnessed, or allowing a known dangerous dog to stay in violation of the lease can support a claim. The question is always whether the landlord had actual knowledge of the danger and a reasonable chance to address it.
What You Can Recover
Victims can recover the full range of losses that flow from a dog attack. Medical expenses are the starting point: emergency care, surgeries, rehabilitation, prescriptions, and future care related to the injury. On top of that, you can seek pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life. Permanent scarring or disfigurement tends to drive settlement values and jury awards significantly higher, especially when the injuries are visible.
The statute also covers property damage, and its definition of property includes companion animals. If a dog injures or kills another pet, recoverable damages include veterinary care, the fair market value of the animal, and burial expenses. If the injured animal was a service animal, the owner can also recover training costs.1Justia. Connecticut Code 22-357 – Damage by Dogs to Person or Property Ruined clothing and other personal items are covered too.
One thing catches victims off guard. If your health insurer paid your medical bills after the attack, it probably has a right to be reimbursed from your settlement or judgment. This is called subrogation, and most health insurance contracts include a clause claiming it. Medicare and Medicaid have particularly aggressive subrogation rights. An attorney can often negotiate these claims down, but ignoring them creates serious problems later.
Negligence as a Second Path
Strict liability is not the only route. Connecticut also allows a traditional negligence claim against someone responsible for the dog’s behavior, including people who do not qualify as an owner or keeper under Section 22-357.2Connecticut General Assembly. Liability for Dog Bites A negligence claim demands more. You have to show the defendant knew or should have known the dog was dangerous and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the attack.
Why bother, if strict liability is simpler? Because negligence can reach defendants strict liability cannot. A neighbor who let an aggressive dog loose in a shared yard, or a dog-walking service that lost control of a leashed animal, may not be an owner or keeper but could still be negligent. The tradeoff is time: negligence claims must be filed within two years under Section 52-584, not three.3Justia. Connecticut Code 52-584 – Limitation of Action for Injury to Person or Property
Insurance Coverage and Breed Issues
Most dog bite claims in Connecticut are paid through the owner’s homeowners or renters insurance, which usually includes personal liability coverage. The Connecticut Insurance Department does not allow insurers to impose breed-specific surcharges in their rates, but it does permit them to use breed and bite history during underwriting. An insurer can refuse to issue a policy to someone who owns a breed on its restricted list.4Connecticut General Assembly. Dog-Related Claims Made Under Property and Casualty Insurance
Insurers can also attach a rider, with the policyholder’s consent, that excludes coverage for a specific named dog.4Connecticut General Assembly. Dog-Related Claims Made Under Property and Casualty Insurance If the dog is excluded and bites someone, the owner is personally on the hook for the full amount, with no insurance backstop. Pit bulls, Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, Chow Chows, Akitas, and wolf hybrids commonly appear on insurer exclusion lists, though each company sets its own.
Connecticut itself bans no breeds. State law actually bars municipalities from passing breed-specific ordinances, so no city or town can single out pit bulls or any other breed. The law looks at the individual dog’s behavior.
Deadlines to File
You have three years from the date of the attack to file a strict liability claim under Section 22-357, under the general tort statute of limitations in Section 52-577.1Justia. Connecticut Code 22-357 – Damage by Dogs to Person or Property For a common law negligence claim, the window is two years from when the injury was sustained or discovered.3Justia. Connecticut Code 52-584 – Limitation of Action for Injury to Person or Property
Miss either deadline and the claim is almost certainly dead. Courts rarely grant exceptions, and insurance companies know these dates as well as any lawyer. If you are considering both a strict liability and a negligence claim, watch the two-year negligence deadline, because it expires first.
A Note on Quarantine and Animal Control
Separately from your civil claim, the dog itself is subject to action by animal control. After a bite, the dog must be quarantined for rabies observation, and the commissioner or an animal control officer can issue restraint or disposal orders.5Justia. Connecticut Code 22-359 – Control of Rabies, Quarantine, Regulations, Report of Rabies Cases, Fine, Seizure of Animals, Costs6Connecticut Department of Agriculture. Connecticut Code 22-358 – Killing of Dogs Doing Damage, Quarantine of Biting Animals, Orders and Appeals That process is handled by the agency, not by the bite victim, and it runs on a separate track from your compensation claim. Reporting the bite to local animal control preserves the record you will later need; the quarantine and any disposal order are decisions the agency makes.