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Yard Dog

 

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My friends dog bit a guy after the guy walked into fenced yard. Who's responsible for medical bill?

The neighbor was having their house worked on and some stuff fell into my friends yard so the guy goes into the fenced yard where the dog is kept and the dog bit him and the guy had to have stitches.

Who is legally responsible for the bill?

We live in Kansas.

The dog also is now in doggy jail for 10 days and my friend was told he has to pay for each day his dog is in jail.

Well, here's how Kansas' dog bite laws work. (Yay research!)

Kansas has a "One Bite" law. A dog bite victim who is injured in Kansas must prove either that the dog owner had "scienter" or was negligent. The scienter cause of action requires proof that the dog had the dangerous propensity to bite people, and that the dog owner knew it or should have known it prior to the accident in question. Negligence is the unreasonable failure to do something or not do something, which results in injury to a person whom the defendant has a duty to not injure. Interestingly, Kansas courts apply other modern rules of law when those rules make it harder for a dog bite victim to recover compensation. Even in cases where the defendant is strictly liable, Kansas courts will apply principles of comparative fault, measuring the plaintiff's fault (if any) against that of the defendant so that the victim receives less than the full value of the injury. Mills v. Smith, 9 Kan. App. 2d 80, 673 P.2d 117 (Kan.App. 1983); Lester v. Magic Chef, Inc., 230 Kan. 643, 645, 641 P.2d 353 (1982); see the comparative fault statute, K.S.A. 60-258a.

If the victim went into the fenced in yard, then according to Kansas law, he is responsible for all medical bills.

 

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