On the Criminal Liability of the Owner for Damage Caused by a Pet (Dog) to Third Parties

The laws of Russia and some foreign states have no special criminal law provisions that establish the liability of the owner for damage caused by his/her pet (dog) to third parties. The article reviews issues of qualification of such acts under the laws of Russia and foreign countries. A comparative analysis of laws of some foreign states and Russia that regulate the bases and procedure for bringing pet dog owners to the legal liability for damage caused by them to health of third parties has shown the unity of approaches towards strict legal liability including criminal liability of such owners in cases of gross violation of rules for handling their pets. At the same time, countries apply different approaches within their jurisdiction to solving the issue of specification of criminal laws applicable to the cases under consideration by singling out or refusing to single out special elements of crimes for violation of pet handling rules. The task of determination of legally relevant attributes of the link between the crime subject (dog owner), behavior of his/her pet and actions/inactivity of the victim seems relevant for the Russian criminal law practice.