Dog bite injuries account for more emergency room visits each year than injuries from bikes, mopeds, ATV’s, the playground, inline skating or skateboarding combined. Most victims are bitten either by their own dogs or by dogs owned by someone they know. People that run the highest risk of being bitten tend to be boys between the ages of five and nine. Minnesota Statute § 347.22 governs dog bite injuries in Minnesota:
If a dog, without provocation, attacks or injures any person who is acting peaceably in any place where the person may lawfully be, the owner of the dog is liable in damages to the person so attacked or injured to the full amount of the injury sustained. The term “owner” includes any person harboring or keeping a dog but the owner shall be primarily liable. The term “dog” includes both male and female of the canine species.