CAN I SUE THE DOG OWNER FOR MY INJURIES?

In many cases, the answer to this question is yes; however, there are some exceptions.

Washington is a strict liability state when it comes to dog bites, meaning that a dog's owner is liable for your injuries as long as: 

• The bite took place on public property or on private property that you were legally visiting
• You did not provoke the dog
• The dog that bit you was not a police dog operating  its lawful application

These cases stand apart from most personal injury cases because they do not require you to prove that the dog's owner was negligent. Also, a dog also not need to have previously demonstrated aggressive or dangerous behavior. So long as a dog bites and injures you, you can file a claim or lawsuit, barring the aforementioned scenarios.

It is important to note that Washington's dog bite laws also protect pets. If your pet is attacked and sustains an injury from another person's dog, the owner will be liable for any injuries that your pet sustains.

What If I Was Attacked By an Off-Duty Police Dog?

If a police dog bites you outside of its legal application, you can also file a claim or lawsuit. The language of the code governing the legal application of police dogs is very ambiguous, stating that "[a]ny dog handler who uses a police dog in the line of duty in good faith is immune from civil action for damages arising out of such use of the police dog or accelerant detection dog." If you are suing for injuries inflicted by a police dog, you must prove that the dog's handler acted in bad faith, which can be as tricky as it is ambiguous. This could mean that the handler encouraged the dog to attack you when it was not necessary or that the police dog was being used to intimidate you as part of an unlawful investigation; however, this is very difficult to prove on its own, and especially so when suing a government entity.