What Tiger King Can Teach Us About Pet Liability

Actors are promoting themselves for casting. Even Lisa Frank contributed to the meme frenzy. To say Netflix’s Tiger King has captivated viewers is an understatement; 34 million people binged the show in the first ten days. The documentary series follows a gun-toting, profanity-spouting, gay, polygamist zoo owner, Joe Exotic, who allegedly attempted to hire a hitman to kill his animal rights activist nemesis. Yet the series covers more than murder-for-hire, spending some time on exotic pet ownership and laws.

One of the show’s most harrowing incidents demonstrates a staff member at the zoo lose an arm to a caged tiger. Remarkably, he returns to work a day after having the arm amputated. The accident reveals not only the inherent danger of working with wild animals, but also the inherent liability.

Yet even for owners of domesticated animals, awareness of the law is important to avoid liability. Your little cat might not be capable of clawing off someone’s arm, but if it has a history of violent behavior and severely injures someone, you might face a lawsuit.  More common, and more often the grounds for legal action, are dog bites.  Arizona is a strict liability state, which means regardless of if your dog has shown viciousness before, you can be held responsible if it bites someone, or even if it attacks another pet.

While many of us were captivated by Tiger King because of its glimpse into a bizarre world of tigers, murder, and mayhem, we assume the danger is beyond us. That’s only true to a certain extent. The CDC and Arizona Department of Health Services state that “some [experts] estimate that there is a 50 percent chance of being bitten by a domestic animal during a lifetime, of which dog bites account for 80-90 percent.” Every year, 4.5 million Americans are bitten by dogs.

The attorneys at Perez Law Group, PLLC, have successfully represented dog-bite victims who were injured.  Call Perez Law Group, PLLC today if you were bitten by a dog or injured by someone else’s pet: (602) 730-7100 or (866) 59-PEREZ.