Believe it or not, Michigan law used to state that every dog was entitled to “one free bite.” That’s right—one of the defenses used in dog bite cases is that the dog simply had never bitten anyone before.
Knowledge of the dog’s violent propensities called scienter in the law, was a requisite to establishing a dog bite case. However, Michigan passed its dog bite statute in 1939, establishing that dogs are no longer entitled to one free bite.
This statute establishes that the owner of a dog is liable for damages to anyone the dog bites’ whether or not the dog has a previous history of biting.