After dog bite at Goodwill, a look at owner responsibility when having dogs in establishments

MADISON, Wis. - A dog attack inside a Madison Goodwill left one person injured over the weekend.

It was Saturday, inside a Madison Goodwill on Verona Road, when a shopper set down their unleashed dog. The dog then approached another shopper, when the victim attempted to pet the dog, it bit them.

"It had no leash and the owner had no way of collecting this animal unless it returned to her voluntarily. That's really taking a risk on the part of the owner of that animal because that owner's liable to pay for any injuries that the animal may cause," said John Hausbeck, an environmental health services supervisor for PHMDC.

Now PHMDC is searching for the dog, hoping to figure out its vaccination status.

"To Ensure that that dog goes through quarantine to just ensure that the animal doesn't have rabies. And then we can report that back to the victim saying, okay, the dog's passed quarantine, you don't have to worry about rabies. Go forward," says Hausbeck.

Currently, there is no indication whether the dog was a support or service animal, but there are two common rules that can limit these incidents from happening in establishments.

"If you're taking your dog off your property anywhere, you should have the dog on a leash. And number two, you shouldn't take it into anybody else's property unless you have express permission either from the person in charge or they have a sign on the door," he says.

Recently, both the city of Madison and Dane County have passed legislation that require physical restraints for animals that have been cited for causing an injury off of the owner's property.

As for the city of Madison, for more information on support and service animal regulations, click here.

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