Question and Answer - Q524

Question

What happens if my pet dog bites an intruder in my house?

Answer

This will depend on the exact circumstances of the incident. The following should be used as a guide only for possible scenarios as each case will be considered individually.

• if you set your dog onto an intruder and the person suffers injury then you may  face prosecution and the the court could order the dog to be kept under control/destroyed (dangerous dog not under control)
• if an intruder breaks in whilst you are out and is attacked by the dog then it is unlikely that you would face the need to defend a possible court order.

There is also civil liability to consider in any damage that your dog may cause. It should be noted that most dogs will simply bark at an intruder but will not follow with a physical attack.

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