Is Delaware a strict liability state for dog bites?
Yes. Delaware Code Title 16, section 3053F says the owner of a dog is liable for any injury, death or loss to a person or property that the dog causes. Nothing in it asks whether the dog had bitten before or whether the owner saw it coming.
The owner escapes only in three situations. You were trespassing or committing a crime on the owner's property. You were committing a crime against someone. Or you were teasing, tormenting or abusing the dog.
The same subchapter defines owner as anyone who owns, keeps, harbors or is the custodian of the dog. A neighbor watching the dog for a week can be the person you claim against.
Delaware dog bite statute of limitations
Delaware's injury deadline is two years from the date you were hurt. It is set by section 8119 in Title 10, Chapter 81 of the Delaware Code and it covers any claim for personal injuries.
Parents should read this part twice. The chapter's savings rule for minors, section 8116, is written for actions under sections 8101 through 8115. The personal injury section, 8119, is not on that list. Plan as if your child's two years started on the day of the bite.
Our page on the dog bite on a child covers the medical and school records that help those claims.
How shared blame works in Delaware
Insurers often argue that the person bitten was careless. Section 8132 of the same chapter answers that. Your own negligence does not bar recovery so long as it was not greater than the negligence of the people you sue, taken together.
If your share is smaller, the award is cut by your percentage. If it is larger, you recover nothing. That is why a calm, accurate account of where you stood and what you did matters from the first phone call.
Delaware dangerous dog law and the $100,000 policy
A Justice of the Peace Court can declare a dog dangerous after it kills or seriously injures a person. Once that happens, Delaware Code Title 16, section 3076F lets the owner keep the dog only under strict terms.
The dog must be spayed or neutered and kept in a proper enclosure. Off the property it needs a muzzle and a short leash held by a responsible adult. The owner must also carry liability insurance of at least $100,000 for harm the dog may cause.
If the dog that bit you was already labeled dangerous, ask whether that policy exists. It may be the money that pays your bills. Note that police, military and correctional dogs on duty cannot be labeled dangerous under section 3074F.
Reporting the bite and talking to a lawyer
Delaware Animal Services officers respond to animal bites to people and to aggressive or dangerous dogs. A call to them creates an official record of the dog, its owner and the date.
The rabies law then puts duties on the owner. Under section 8208 of Delaware Code Title 3, Chapter 82, the owner of a dog that may have exposed a person to rabies must keep it in strict quarantine for at least 10 days from the exposure.
A Delaware dog bite lawyer can use that record to name the right owner or keeper. With only two years and no clear extra time for children, it pays to start early.
How to report a dog bite in Delaware
Report the bite to Delaware Animal Services, which enforces the state's rabies control laws. The Delaware Office of Animal Welfare page sets out the next steps.
Before you sign with anyone, check that the attorney is licensed: use the Delaware State Bar Association attorney search.
