While you may have the best-behaved dog on the planet, there may be some instances where your pet will try and defend itself by biting another person, especially if they are scared, threatened, or injured. Many states have liabilities against dog owners when their pets bite another person, but how does the law treat animals that bite veterinarians? Luckily, veterinarians are not passers-by on the street, and the law recognizes that there is a certain degree of expectation that occurs on the job.

Can I be sued if my dog bites their vet?

The law assumes that veterinarians, in the nature of the job, know that any dog can bite if it feels unsafe in any way. Since veterinarians take on the possibility for injury as a part of the job and should know how to guard against these bites, they cannot sue the owner of the dog if they are injured due to a bite. Assistants and other workers at the veterinary office abide by the same legal rules. However, a veterinarian can be sued by their employee if they have been shown to be exposed to an unfair risk during the course of their employment.

Courts have ruled that owners are not liable for dog bites in vet's offices because veterinarians:

• Are aware of the risks associated with the position
• Can take measures to prevent a dog from biting
• Take dogs under their control, effectively becoming owners of the dog while it is under their care
• Provokes a dog to bite by the sheer nature of treatment

Provoking a dog is one of the legal defenses to biting. Some people argue that when a dog is being provoked to bite, expecting otherwise is unreasonable. For example, some cases have illustrated that simply putting a dog in an unfamiliar surrounding or having it held by people they didn't know can be enough to provoke a dog to react.

One exception to this rule is when the owner of a known aggressive dog doesn't discloses this information to the veterinarian, who then cannot take the proper steps to prepare themselves against a bite. A vet may be able to hold the dog owner responsible for injuries that result from failing to disclose this information.