A house-sitter bitten after another dog was brought in

Attorney Answer

A dog bite in Georgia is not automatic liability — the statute has three separate requirements, and the facts here put all three in play.

O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7 sets out what has to be shown:

A person who owns or keeps a vicious or dangerous animal of any kind and who, by careless management or by allowing the animal to go at liberty, causes injury to another person who does not provoke the injury by his own act may be liable in damages to the person so injured. In proving vicious propensity, it shall be sufficient to show that the animal was required to be at heel or on a leash by an ordinance of a city, county, or consolidated government, and the said animal was at the time of the occurrence not at heel or on a leash.

Read against these facts, each element is genuinely contestable. Careless management or allowing the animal to go at liberty describes the owner's own conduct; a dog secured in its own home, with a second dog brought in without permission, is a different picture from a dog let loose. Provocation is the second: the statute excludes a person who provokes the injury by their own act, and stepping between two animals that are already engaged is conduct a court can weigh. And the leash-ordinance route to vicious propensity is about an animal required to be at heel or on a lead by local ordinance — which speaks to an animal at large, not one inside the home it lives in.

Helping with medical bills does not admit liability, and it is a decent thing to do. But keep it informal and documented rather than open-ended, because a pattern of payments can be characterised later as an acknowledgement.

What you can do

1. Preserve the outside footage now, and anything showing the visiting dog arriving off the lead. 2. Write down the sequence while it is fresh: who brought the second dog, whether consent was asked, and who moved first. 3. Notify your homeowner's insurer — most policies cover dog-bite claims and require prompt notice. 4. Keep a record of any medical payments you make, and stop open-ended promises. 5. Speak to a Georgia attorney before signing anything or agreeing a figure.

⏱ Time limits apply. O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 requires actions for injuries to the person to be brought within two years after the right of action accrues. Waiting also costs evidence — footage is overwritten and memories fade — so the practical deadline is usually much earlier than the legal one.

A Georgia attorney can tell you quickly how the facts here line up, and most will look at a matter like this at no cost.