Alaska Dog Bite Law

A dog bite victim in Alaska can recover compensation under the doctrines of negligence, negligence per se, scienter and intentional tort. There is no dog bite statute so this is a "one bite state."

• Overview
• Litigation forms and other materials for attorneys
• If your case involves injury to a dog, see What To Do If Your Dog Is Injured or Killed

Overview

Alaska follows the one bite rule. This means that a person can be held liable for a dog attack (inflicting any injury, whether a bite or something else) if the dog had the dangerous propensity to inflict such an injury, and the defendant knew or should have known about that propensity. See The One Bite Rule. 

Third parties such as landowners and management companies also can be held liable if they are aware of a dog's dangerous propensity to inflict injury, and yet do nothing to prevent it despite having the legal right to do so. See Alaskan Village, Inc. v. Smalley, 720 P. 2d 945 (Alaska 1986), which also holds that if the defendant or its employee acted with malice or reckless indifference toward the victim's safety, a jury can award punitive damages. 

In Alaska, an injured child's lawsuit can include a claim for medical expenses reasonably necessary to treat the dog bite; his parents are not required to bring a separate claim in their own name. See Alaskan Village, cited above. 

Officially, Alaska has a severe dog bite problem. See State of Alaska Epidemiology Bulletin, Deaths and Hospitalizations from Dog Bite Injuries - Alaska 1991 - 2002. The report concluded, "The incidence of dog bite injury deaths in Alaska was much higher than that of the nation at 123 versus 7.1 per 100 million population per year, respectively."