The neighbour's dog bit my son

The neighbour's dog bit my son

"My son was bitten by his neighbour's dog while playing on the pavement. The dog's owner doesn't seem to realise the seriousness of this act and I'd like to know what I should do to avert such a danger for the children in the neighbourhood, if only by charging the medical costs of this mishap to the person responsible.

Ben, Geneva

Under article 56 of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO), the person who keeps an animal is liable to compensate for any damage it may cause unless he can prove that he kept and supervised it with all the attention required by the circumstances, or that his diligence would not have prevented the damage from occurring. According to case law, the keeper is the person who has taken charge of the animal and has the power to keep and supervise it, even temporarily. Therefore, unless your neighbour's dog broke a strong leash or climbed a high wall to escape into the neighbourhood, this means that it was poorly supervised and that its keeper will have to bear the costs caused by the animal's behaviour.

That said, under article 36 of the Geneva law on dogs (LChiens), it is the responsibility of the keeper to report to the authorities any serious injury to a human being caused by his dog, as well as any aggressive behaviour that exceeds the norm. This obligation also applies to law enforcement officers, customs officers, wildlife wardens, doctors, vets, managers of animal shelters or boarding kennels, as well as dog trainers and instructors.

On receipt of a report or a statement of offence, the authority may decide to confine the animal immediately and carry out a general assessment or call in experts to assess the dog's degree of dangerousness, at the keeper's expense. Depending on the seriousness of the offence, one of the penalties provided for in article 39 of the Dogs Act may be imposed, including, for example, the obligation to attend dog training courses, the obligation to wear a muzzle, the castration or sterilisation of the dog, or the temporary or permanent confinement of the dog, the expulsion of a dog whose keeper is not resident in the canton, the euthanasia of the dog, the withdrawal of the authorisation to keep a dog or various measures relating to the activities of a breeder, trader, dog walker or dog trainer.

It should be noted that under article 41 LChiens, an appeal against such a decision may be lodged with the Administrative Chamber of the Court of Justice within 10 days.