New Jersey Dog Bite Lawyer

New Jersey’s dog bite statute, N.J. Stat. § 4:19-16, imposes strict liability upon dog owners. Under the statute, owners can be held strictly liable when their dog bites a person while in a public place or lawfully in a private place, including the owner’s property. Strict liability claims do not require a victim to prove that an owner was somehow negligent, or that an owner had knowledge of their dog’s dangerous propensities. However, victims cannot recover damages if they were provoking or harassing the dog, or trespassing at the time of the incident. The statute only covers bite injuries, so victims who suffer non-bite injuries must rely on a different theory of liability, such as negligence, in order to recover. To establish a negligence claim, the victim must prove that the owner owed them a duty (here, a duty to exercise reasonable care in controlling or restraining the dog), the owner breached that duty, and their injuries were proximately caused by this breach.