FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
Second Regular Session 
1 
Introduced bv Senator Antonio “Sonnv” F. Trillanes IV 
Explanatory Note 
In the Philippines, it is estimated that there are about 317,065 people who are bitten by dogs 
annually.’ Unfortunately, there is no accurate report for dog bite cases as most cases neither go 
reported nor properly treated in hospitals. In a data available at Dumaguete City, the city 
veterinaw office (CVO) has recorded a total of 105 dog bite cases in the first seven (7) months of 
this year. According to the CVO, the said figures are based only on the dog bite cases that were 
reported in their office. More alarmingly, according to a report published by Inquire?, there is 
consistent evidence that between 30 and 60 percent of all victims of dog bites are children under 
fifteen (15) years of age. 
This bill first provides that, when any person owns or keeps a vicious or dangerous dog of any 
kind and, as a result of his or her careless management or allowing the dog to go at liberty, and 
another person, without fault is injured, such owner shall be liable in damages for such injury. If 
any dog shall, without provocation, bite or injure any person who is at the time at a place where 
he or she has a legal right to be, the owner of such dog shall be liable in damages to the person so 
bitten or injured. This apparent strict liability has a mitigation provision that states that the 
owner of such dog shall be entitled to plead and prove in mitigation of damages that he had no 
knowledge of any circumstances indicating such dog to be or to have been vicious or dangerous. 
If an owner, however, is aware that his or her dog is rabid at the time of the bite, he or she shall 
be liable for twice the damages sustained. 
In view of the foregoing, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought 
AN *=+4- 
IO “SONNY” F. TRaLANES IV 
Senator 
‘ httu://www. wronediaenosis.com/d/doa bite/stats-couniw.htm. Information retrieved on November 17,2008 
’ 
hlto://sliowhizandstvle.inauiror.netllifes~le~ifes~le/view 
article.uhu?ar!icle id=12704 1. Information retrieved on November 
18,2008. 
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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
Second Regular Session 
1 
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SENATE 
S.NO. 
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Introduced by Senator Antonio “Sonny” F. Trillanes IV 
AN ACT 
RlCLATING TO THE LIABILITY OF OWNERS OF DOGS BITING OR INJURING 
PERSONS 
Be it enacted by the Senute and House of Representatives ofthe Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. -This Act may be cited as the “Dog Bite Law of 2009”. 
SEC. 2. Definition. As used in this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, ”owner” 
means a person who, at the time of the offense, regularly harbors, keeps or exercises control over 
the dog, but does not include a person who, at the time of the offense, is temporarily harboring, 
keeping or exercising control over the dog. 
SEC. 3. Liabiliq of owner of dog for injuries to person bitten or injured while upon 
property owned or controlled by owner, etc.- If any dog shall, without provocation, bite or injure 
any person who is at the time at a place where he or she has a legal right to be, the owner of such 
dog shall be liable in damages to the person so bitten or injured, but such liability shall arise only 
when the person so bitten or injured is upon property owned or controlled by the owner of such 
dog at the time such bite or injury occurs or when such person has been immediately prior to 
such time on such property and has been pursued therefrom by such dog 
SEC. 4. When person deemed lawfully on property of owner of dog. - For the purpose 
of this Act, a person shall be considered to be lawfully upon the private property of the owner of 
such dog when he is on such property in the performance of any duty imposed upon him by the 
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laws of this land or the local government ordinances and regulations of the Philippines, when 
reading meters, when making repairs to any public utility or service upon said premises or when 
on such property upon the invitation, either expressed or implied, of the owner or lessee of such 
property. 
SEC. 5. Liabiliw of owner of dog for injuries to person bitten or injured wltile upon 
other person's property or a place open to the general public. - The owner of a dog commits an 
offense if that dog goes uncontrolled by the owner upon the premises of another without the 
consent of the owner of the premises or other person authorized to give consent, or goes 
uncontrolled by the owner upon a highway, public road, street or any other place open to the 
public generally. 
SEC. 6. Exceptions. - It is an exception to the application of this Act if: 
(1) The dog was on a hunt or chase; 
(2) The dog was on the way to or from a hunt or chase; 
(3) The dog was guarding or driving stock or on the way to guard or drive stock; 
(4) The dog was being moved from one place to another by the owner of the dog; 
( 5 )  The dog is a police or military dog, the injury occurred during the course of the dog's official 
duties and the person injured was a party to, a participant in or suspected of being a party to or 
participant in the act or conduct that prompted the police or military to utilize the services of the 
dog; 
(6) The violation of Section 5 occurred while the injured person was on the private property of 
the dog's owner with the intent to engage in unlawful activity while on the property; 
(7) The violation of Section 5 occurred while the dog was protecting the dog's owner or other 
innocent party from attack by the injured person or an animal owned by the injured person; 
(8) The violation of Section 5 occurred while the dog was securely confined in a kennel, crate or 
other enclosure; or 


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(9) The violation of Section 5 occurred as a result of the injured person disturbing, harassing, 
assaulting or otherwise provoking the dog. 
SEC. I. Injury caused by dogs; civil liability; aceptions; limitations. - 
(a) The owner of a dog has a duty to keep that dog under reasonable control at all times, 
and to keep that dog from running at large, A person who breaches that duty is subject to 
civil liability, as provided in Article 2183 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, for any 
damages suffered by a person who is injured by the dog while in a public place or 
lawfully in or on the private property of another. 
(b) Such a person may be held liable regardless of whether the dog has shown any 
dangerous propensities or whether the dog's owner knew or should have known of the 
dog's dangerous propensities. 
(1) 
(2) The provisions of Section (7)(1) shall not be construed to impose liability upon the owner of 
the dog if: 
(a) The dog is a police or military dog, the injury occurred during the course of the dog's 
official duties and the person injured was a party to, a participant in or suspected of being 
a party to or participant in the act or conduct that prompted the police or military to 
utilize the services of the dog; 
(b) The injured person was trespassing upon the private, nonresidential property of the 
dog's owner; 
(c) The injury occurred while the dog was protecting the dog's owner or other innocent 
party from attack by the injured person or a dog owned by the injured person; 
(d) The injury occurred while the dog was securely confined in a kennel, crate or other 
enclosure; or 
(e) The injury occurred as a result of the injured person enticing, disturbing, alarming, 
harassing, or otherwise provoking the dog. 
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(3) 
If a dog causes damage to a person while the person is on residential, farm or other 
noncommercial property, and the dog's owner is the owner of the property, or is on such 
property by permission of the owner or as a l a h l  tenant or lessee, in any civil action 
based upon such damages brought against the owner of the dog, the claimant shall be 
required to establish that the dog's owner knew or should have known of the dog's 
dangerous propensities. 
SEC. 8. Mitigation of damages. - The owner of such dog shall, however, be entitled to 
plead and prove in mitigation of damages that he had no knowledge of any circumstances 
indicating such dog to be or to have been vicious or dangerous or mischievous, and, if he does 
so, he shall be liable only to the extent of the actual expenses incurred by the person so bitten or 
injured as a result of the bite or injury. 
SEC. 9. Repealing Clause.- Any laws, decrees, ordinances or rules and regulations 
which are inconsistent with or contrary to the provision of this Act is hereby amended or 
repealed. 
SEC. 10. Effectivi&.- This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its complete 
publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
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