Nowadays, dog ownership has become a normal part of urban life. In the evening, whether in parks or in the streets, you can often see people walking their dogs. However, although dogs are man’s best friends, their docility and loyalty are limited to their owners. If not controlled properly, they may cause harm to others.

Recently, a pet dog injured someone in Changsha, Hunan. Ms. Li kept a border collie as a pet. She was walking the dog in the square that day. There were relatively few people at that time, so Ms. Li untied the border collie's dog leash to let it move around for a while. After untying the rope, the border collie ran out like a wild horse.

But after a while, the barking of the border collie was heard in the distance. Ms. Li rushed to follow the sound and found that the border collie was looking fiercely at a woman holding a small dog. Seeing that the border collie was about to pounce on her, Ms. Li quickly went up to stop her, but she was a step too late. The border collie bit the lady's hand.

The person who was bitten was Ms. Hu, who lived nearby. He was walking his dog in the square that day, but the border shepherd raised by Ms. Li became ferocious when he saw Ms. Hu's dog, and Ms. Li happened to untie it, so the scene just happened. After Ms. Hu was bitten, Ms. Li immediately accompanied her to the hospital for examination and expressed her willingness to compensate Ms. Hu for her losses.

But the next day, Ms. Li changed her story, saying that it was not her dog that bit Ms. Hu, and refused to compensate Ms. Li for her medical expenses. So Ms. Hu took Ms. Li to court with a complaint. Ms. Hu believed that Ms. Li did not have a leash when walking her dog, causing her personal rights to be infringed. She requested the court to help mediate and seek compensation from Ms. Li.

According to the travel regulations in Article 22 of the "Changsha Dog Breeding Management Regulations", dogs must be led on a leash when going out. If the dog weighs less than 20 kilograms, a dog leash with a length of less than 2 meters should be used; if the dog weighs more than 20 kilograms, a dog leash with a length of less than 1.5 meters should be used, and the dog should wear a muzzle.

Ms. Li’s border collie was not wearing a leash when it bit Ms. Hu. Moreover, the border collie is a large dog weighing more than 20 kilograms. Ms. Li did not wear a muzzle for her dog at the time, so Ms. Li’s behavior violated the regulations.

According to Article 1,246 of the Civil Code: If management regulations are violated and safety measures are not taken for animals that cause damage to others, the animal keeper or manager shall bear tort liability; however, liability may be reduced if it can be proven that the damage was intentionally caused by the person being infringed.

So Ms. Li violated the management regulations, causing Ms. Hu’s hand to be bitten by her dog. As the owner of the dog, Ms. Li needs to be responsible for this infringement according to law. Moreover, Ms. Hu did not provoke, stimulate, or harm Ms. Li’s dog at that time, so Ms. Li should bear all the consequences.

But Ms. Li insisted that it was not her own dog that bit Ms. Hu, but someone else’s dog. So Ms. Hu called witnesses at the scene, and the witnesses confirmed that it was indeed Ms. Li's dog that bit Ms. Hu. But at this time, Ms. Li changed her story again, saying that she was not the one who took the dog to the park that day, but her mother.

She said that because her mother was old, she did not know that there were so many rules for walking dogs and that she could not untie the dog's leash when walking the dog. Moreover, she admitted that untying the dog's leash was against the regulations. She was willing to compensate Ms. Hu for the medical expenses, but she refused to pay other compensation requested by Ms. Hu.

However, according to the Civil Code, those who infringe upon others and cause personal damage shall be compensated for reasonable expenses such as medical expenses, nursing expenses, transportation expenses, nutrition expenses, hospitalization food subsidies, etc. for treatment and recovery, as well as the loss of income due to missed work. After Ms. Hu was bitten by a dog, although she received timely treatment, it still had a great impact on her life and work. Therefore, it is reasonable and legal for Ms. Hu to claim compensation from Ms. Li for expenses other than medical expenses.

After final negotiation, Ms. Li agreed to compensate Ms. Li 500 yuan in addition to medical expenses. In fact, regarding various types of civil disputes, the Civil Code has detailed provisions. When your own rights and interests are harmed, as long as you strictly follow the Civil Code, you will be able to safeguard your legitimate rights and interests.