Personal Injury · Dog Bite Liability
Dog Bite Laws in Minnesota
Whether Minnesota holds a dog owner automatically liable, follows the one-bite rule, or takes a mixed approach, plus landlord liability and the main defenses.
How liability works in Minnesota
What the rule is, and what you must show.
Landlords & defenses
Who else can be liable, and what defeats a claim.
Minnesota’s statute is unusually pro-victim: because it covers any injury and drops the knowledge requirement, the realistic defenses are narrow and usually turn on provocation or the victim’s own conduct.
The full picture, with the source
Every field, and any recent development.
| Liability model | Strict liability |
| Basis | Statute — Minn. Stat. §347.22 |
| What it covers | The dog attacked or injured you (Minnesota reaches any injury, not just a bite), you were acting peaceably, you were in a place you could lawfully be, and you did not provoke the dog. Anyone harboring or keeping the dog counts as an owner, though the actual owner is primarily liable. |
| Landlord | Generally no under §347.22, which targets the owner and anyone harboring or keeping the dog. A landlord who merely rents to a dog owner is usually not "harboring" the dog and can be reached only through ordinary negligence, which requires knowledge of the dog’s dangerous propensity and the ability to remove it. |
| Main defenses | Provocation · Not acting peaceably · Not lawfully present / trespassing |
What Minnesota dog-bite victims get wrong
Minnesota is a strict-liability state, and its statute is broader than most. Under §347.22 an owner is liable the moment a dog, without provocation, "attacks or injures" a person who is acting peaceably in a place they may lawfully be. Read that phrase closely: unlike California and several other strict states that only reach an actual bite, Minnesota reaches any injury the dog causes, so being knocked down, scratched, or chased into a fall can all fall inside the statute. There is no "one free bite," and it does not matter whether the dog had ever shown aggression before. The statute also sweeps in anyone "harboring or keeping" the dog, though it makes the actual owner primarily liable. The main ways an owner escapes are provocation, or showing the victim was not acting peaceably or was not lawfully present.
Common questions
Is Minnesota a strict-liability state for dog bites?
Yes. Under Minn. Stat. §347.22 the owner is liable when a dog attacks or injures a person without provocation, regardless of whether the dog had ever been dangerous or the owner knew.
Does Minnesota’s dog law cover more than an actual bite?
Yes. The statute reaches any dog that "attacks or injures" a person, so a knock-down, scratch, or other injury can qualify, not just a bite. That is broader than bite-only strict statutes like California’s.
What does "acting peaceably in a lawful place" mean in Minnesota?
You must not have provoked the dog and must have been somewhere you were legally allowed to be, including public property or private property you had permission to enter. Trespassers and people who provoke the dog fall outside the statute.
Can I sue my landlord if a tenant’s dog bit me in Minnesota?
Usually not under §347.22, since a landlord who only rents to the owner is not typically "harboring or keeping" the dog. A landlord can be reached through ordinary negligence if they knew the dog was dangerous and could have removed it.
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.