Question 15162 — animals

Summary

Mr. Didier Le Gac draws the attention of the Minister of the Interior to the criminal liability of dog owners responsible for bites. According to the insurance information documentation center, 500,000 dog bites are reported each year in France requiring 60,000 hospitalizations. The Health Surveillance Institute, for its part, highlighted that injuries were more serious and more numerous among young people children since it is generally located on the face and neck and causes physical, aesthetic and psychological after-effects. From 1999 to 2010, there were 33 deaths from dog bites. Two thirds of the victims were children under the age of 15 and 16 victims were under the age of five. In most cases, the victims know the dog that attacks them, and in the majority of cases, these attacks take place at residence. However, mayors highlight an increase in dog bites in public spaces. Postmen, walkers, joggers, local residents and neighbors are thus attacked by dogs left wandering or wandering or walked without a leash or muzzle by their owner in defiance of legal provisions and, in particular, of article 1243 of the civil code stipulating that "the owner of a animal, or the person who uses it, while it is in use, is responsible for the damage that the animal has caused, whether the animal was under guard, or whether it was lost or escaped.” These owners also often contravene the provisions of Law No. 99-5 of January 6, 1999 “relating to dangerous and stray animals and the protection of animals” and contribute to creating insecurity in public spaces. He deplores that the Victims see their aggression minimized and are forced to travel themselves to report their bites while they are traumatized by these attacks. He also deplores the fact that dog owners, whatever their category, feel so little responsible for the safety of others, as the civil code invites them to do, by too often assuming that their pet is not dangerous. This is the reason for which he asks what measures the Government intends to take to make dog owners responsible and to sanction them more severely and more quickly in the event of bites.

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