A family of 4 went on vacation. The neighbor’s mom was hired to feed the dog, let the dog in, and put the dog out. The dog owners have a process that is to be used to let to dog in which involves making sure that no children are present because the dog is excitable and could knock a child down. The neighbor’s mom was informed of this orally. In addition, this was also posted in writing in the owner’s  house. The neighbor’s mom took her son, who had played with the dog and fed the dog from his hand on numerous occasions for over 2 years, with her to let the dog in. The child was standing 10 feet inside the home when his mom let the dog in. The dog attacked the child biting him in the face on the check by his mouth, eye, nose and the right arm. The dog was declared dangerous and was held in quarantine at the city shelter.

I was hired by the defendant as an expert to prove there was no prior knowledge of aggression from the dog and to establish what a reasonably prudent dog owner should do in regards to managing an excitable dog. I found that the dog did not have any prior aggression incidents and that the dog owners were not negligent. The mom was found to be responsible because she failed to follow the training given to her by the dog owners and she failed to follow the handling rules in regards to children.

The dangerous dog complaint was dismissed.