“Rules imposing liability for harm caused by domestic animals find their origin in authority no less ancient than the Pentateuch.” Wilson v. Simmons, 103 S.W.3d 211 (Mo.App. W.D. 2003). The Bible contains the following at Exodus 21:28-29:
In plain English, this passage says that if the animal previously killed someone or acted like it wanted to (“were wont to push with his horn in the past”), and the owner knew it (“it hath been testified to his owner”), and the owner thereafter failed to prevent the animal from killing another person (“he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or woman”), then both the animal and its owner “shall be put to death.”
The one free bite rule was part of the “common law” (meaning the judge-made law of England). On July 4, 1776, the common law became the law of the United States. Our courts accepted it without change, as illustrated in this 1887 ruling:
The practice has so long and so universally prevailed of permitting dogs to run at large in our streets and highways, without holding the owner liable for any injury, which he had no reason to believe they would commit, that it would justly create great surprise to maintain such a cause of action now. In my opinion the action will not lie without proof of the scienter. (State ex rel. Smith v. Donohue, 49 N.J.L. 548; 10 A. 150; 1887 N.J. Super. LEXIS 48 (1887).)
The best expression of the rule is found in Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 509:
- “(1) A possessor of a domestic animal that he knows or has reason to know has dangerous propensities abnormal to its class, is subject to liability for harm done by the animal to another, although he has exercised the utmost care to prevent it from doing the harm.
- “(2) This liability is limited to harm that results from the abnormally dangerous propensity of which the possessor knows or has reason to know.”
The states that base civil liability on the one bite rule in whole or part are listed at One Bite States and Mixed Dog Bite Statute States. The United Kingdom, by the way, still relies upon the “one bite” rule (see the Animals Act 1971, section 2, subsection 2).
Most American states have either eliminated or modified the one bite rule. A list of the states that have adopted strict liability either wholly or in some degree is at Statutory Strict Liability States.
WARNING: If you are not a lawyer, and either have an injury claim or must defend against a claim, you are strongly advised to see an attorney rather than attempt to research this issue. It is complicated in every state.