Washington Dog Bite Law and its Problems


 From what I can tell, Washington's dog bite statute, RCW 16.08.040 hasn't been changed since 1941, and well, it shows. With the prevalence of severe dog attacks and bites increasing, it sure seems like our dog bite statute should be stronger and broader. Here's the Washington statute:

RCW 16.08.040
Dog Bites - Liability.

The owner of any dog which shall bite any person while such person is in or on a public place or lawfully in or on a private place including the property of the owner of such dog, shall be liable for such damages as may be suffered by the person bitten, regardless of the former viciousness of such dog or the owner's knowledge of such viciousness.

The Washington Dog Bite statute is written in terms of "The owner of any dog" which could be much broader. Case law has helped a bit by expanding this to include harborer or keeper of the dog but there's no reason this change shouldn't be codified. RCW 16.08.040 also limits liability under this statute to an actual dog "bite". Other states, including Arizona, have a much broader dog bite statute. The Arizona dog bite statute, ARS 11-1020 states:

11-1020. Dogs; liability

Injury to any person or damage to any property by a dog while at large shall be the full responsibility of the dog owner or person or persons responsible for the dog when such damages were inflicted.

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