The Dog Bite Statute in Colorado

The Colorado dog bite statute is for cases where the victim cannot prove the elements of the “one bite rule.” See Proving a Dangerous Propensity in Colorado. 

The statute covers any “person, firm, corporation, or organization owning, possessing, harboring, keeping, having financial or property interest in, or having control or custody of, a dog.” (Col. Rev. Stats. sec. 13-21-124.)

The statute applies only to a “serious bodily injury.” The definition of “serious bodily injury” is contained in section 18-1-901(3)(p), which defines it as “bodily injury which, either at the time of the actual injury or at a later time, involves a substantial risk of death, a substantial risk of serious permanent disfigurement, a substantial risk of protracted loss or impairment of the function of any part or organ of the body, or breaks, fractures, or burns of the second or third degree.” A “bodily injury” means “any physical injury that results in severe bruising, muscle tears, or skin lacerations requiring professional medical treatment or any physical injury that requires corrective or cosmetic surgery.” (Sec. 13-21-124, subd. (1)(a).) Emotional distress, for example, would not be covered under the statute if it does not result from actual physical injury.

The dog bite statute provides a limited remedy: the victim’s recovery will be limited to economic damages. The term “economic damages” includes past medical bills, future medical bills, past psychological counseling, future psychological counseling, past loss of income, future loss of income, and loss of earning power. The jury instruction refers to “any economic losses incurred to the present time, or which will probably be incurred in the future, including: loss of earnings or impairment of earning capacity; reasonable and necessary medical hospital and other expenses.” 

A plaintiff in a personal injury action may recover compensatory damages for physical impairment, disfigurement, economic damages (including loss of earnings, impaired earning capacity, medical, hospital and care expenses (both past and future), and out-of-pocket expenses), and noneconomic damages for such things as pain and suffering, inconvenience, emotional stress, and impairment of quality of life. Interest on personal injury damages may be claimed from the date the action accrued. . . . The statutory rate of interest in Colorado is 8% per annum. (John P. Craver and Adam Goldstein, State Law Summary, Overview of the State of Colorado, pp. 11-12.)

It bears emphasis that the dog bite statute does not entitle a victim to receive general damages for intagible losses, which are referred to as “noneconomic loss.” Section 13-21-102.5 defines “noneconomic loss” as “nonpecuniary harm … including pain and suffering, inconvenience, emotional stress, and impairment of the quality of life.” To recover full compensation for pain and suffering, a dog bite victim has to prove that the defendant was negligent or should have known that the dog had the tendency to bite people. In Barger et al. v. Jimerson et al. (1954) 130 Colo. 459, 276 P.2d 744, the Colorado Supreme Court held that a dog owner who is free of negligence shall nevertheless be liable for injuries and losses resulting from a dog bite, if the owner knew or should have known that the dog was dangerous prior to attack. A victim only has to prove that the dog had the tendency to bite, not that it ever actually bit anyone. As the court said in Barger, “There is no evidence in this case that the dog in question had ever bitten anyone before, but its ferocious and violent nature as daily exhibited to many people, especially the neighbors, was such as to put prudent people on guard to prevent a possibility of attack on human beings . . . ” (130 Colo. at p. 463.)

With regard to noneconomic loss, Colorado limits them in amount unless the victim has physical impairment or disfigurement. The limit originally set forth in Section 13-21-102.5 was $250,000 but has risen from year to year. An attorney must be consulted for any case that could result in a significant monetary loss.  

The statute does not permit a victim to recover anything if he trespassed, provoked the dog, ignored a warning sign, was a judge at a dog show, or was performing a service for the dog, or if the dog was doing military or police work, or was working as a hunting, herding, farming, ranching, or predator control dog.

Here is the text of Colorado’s dog bite statute, Col. Rev. Stats. sec. 13-21-124 (Civil actions against dog owners):