One of our experienced Monmouth County lawyers will have to show that the defendant was the owner of the dog, that the dog bit the injured person, and the person bit by the dog was in a public place or lawfully on the owner’s property. When these three elements of the statute are satisfied the owner of the dog that bit the injured party is strictly liable for the injury caused by the dog bite, regardless of the owner’s prior knowledge of the dog’s propensity to bite.
If your case involves a landlord who is not the owner of the dog that bit someone, the New Jersey courts have ruled that in order to find the landlord responsible for the dog bite, the person who sustained an injury as a result of the dog bite must prove that the landlord knew or should have known of the dog’s vicious propensity to bite.