Dog Bite Liability in Tennessee

Statute with a mixed rule. A dog owner who fails to keep the dog under reasonable control or lets it run at large is liable for injuries to a person in a public place or lawfully on someone else's private property, even if the dog had shown no dangerous tendencies. However, if the injury happens on the owner's own residential, farm or other noncommercial property, the injured person must prove the owner knew or should have known of the dog's dangerous propensities. Exceptions include trespassers on the owner's non-residential property, provoking the dog, the dog defending someone from attack, a securely confined dog, and certain police or military dogs. The one-year personal injury deadline applies.

One year after the cause of action accrues for injuries to the person. The deadline is two years if criminal charges are brought against the person who caused the injury (or the conduct is the subject of a criminal prosecution started within one year), and the injured person sues the person prosecuted.