Bitten by other tenants dog, now what? (Milwaukee: apartment, daycare)

[nikoba]

My boyfriend and I rented the lower of a townhouse last summer. The neighbors who live upstairs are a married couple who own two adult dogs. My boyfriend & I are dog lovers and I work part time at a doggy daycare/foster facility. On a number of occasions we have talked to & been friendly with the neighbors. They've met the foster dogs I've cared for and one day the upstairs wife was walking their pitbulls on a leash up our shared driveway. I asked her if I could come meet the girls...she said yes and I began to approach. The dogs were barking their heads off...but the dogs are very reactionary & always bark at everything. When I was close enough, one of the dogs bit and held onto my arm. I did nothing to provoke the bite and had I not been wearing a sweatshirt, I would have needed a trip to the hospital. After the incident, the neighbors apologized, and we considered it resolved between us...despite never really feeling 100% safe on the property, as the dogs were allowed to continue their reactive behavior with no correction from the owners. We never reported the incident.

With the recent freezing temps, our landlord came to take care of some frozen pipes. He had to enter our unit & he started a conversation with my boyfriend about the dogs upstairs & their constant barking being a nuisance. My boyfriend informed him of some of our experiences, including the dog bite. The next day the landlords wife called & wanted all the details surrounding the bite, so I gave her all the details & texted her photos of the bite the day it happened and a picture of the scars I have today...7 months later. Our landlords have obviously talked to our upstairs neighbors...as they no longer return our greetings and are visibly upset with us.

We never meant to make a big deal out of the bite, but I'm also kind of relieved that the landlords know...as I don't trust these dogs. What actions were likely taken by the landlord now that they have been made aware of the dog bit & behavior on their property?

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Dog bites are an automatic win in court. It's called strict liability. Doesn't matter if you approached the dogs, etc. Dog bite = guilty.

You can sue your neighbor.

I saw that you also posted in Milwaukee. I'm going to assume you are there. BTW, please add your location in your profile. It makes it easier to help you.

From my research, it looks like you can't sue the LL unless it's his dog, which surprised me. You might want to double check this with a lawyer to see if there's any liability on the landlord. Especially, now that he's on notice that the dogs are dangerous.

Wisconsin court concluded landlord not liable for injury

This website is a lawyer's website. Not sure if that's allowed? But I like it because it cites the law and explains it well:

Wisconsin Dog Bite Law

In case that link is deleted by the mod, here is the actual statute that explains what the dog owners would be liable for:

https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/sta...tatutes/174/02

The statute of limitations for dog bites in WI is 3 years according to another WI dog bite attorney's website I found. So you would have 3 years from the time of the bite to sue.

I found this brochure on laws regarding pitbulls in Milwaukee. It includes a phone number you can call. It's not very tough on pitbulls.

http://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibra...itbillV24b.pdf

[nikoba]

Thank you for all your help and information. I don't want to sue anyone. Our landlords are great and our neighbors are nice people...just terrible dog owners in my opinion. Given that the bite happened in June, I just didn't know what action my landlord could take now that they've been informed. We don't want to be the reason our neighbors lose their home, but it would be comforting if the dogs were required to be muzzled when outside. I will read the links you provided & see if I can determine what action was likely taken by our landlords.