Defences to animal injury claims under the Animals Act 1971 (England and Wales): claimant fault, voluntary acceptance of risk, trespass and contributory negligence

Published by a LexisNexis PI & Clinical Negligence expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note addresses the defences that may arise in response to a claim for injuries caused by an animal. It considers accidents attributable to the claimant, voluntary acceptance of risk, trespass and contributory negligence. The Animals Act 1971 is referred to in this Practice Note as AA 1971.

Accident caused by claimant

A defendant may avoid liability for injury arising from an animal if they can demonstrate, under AA 1971, s 5(1), that the claimant’s injury was wholly their own fault. Examples might include the following:

riding so close to another horse in a show ring that it kicks out (see Jones v Baldwin (2010) Cardiff County Court (not reported by LexisNexis®))
grabbing and restraining a dog so it feels threatened and bites (see Preskey v Sutcliffe (2013) Leeds County Court (not reported by LexisNexis®))

Voluntary acceptance of risk

A defendant will also avoid liability under AA 1971, s 5(2), where the claimant has voluntarily accepted the risk of injury...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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