Q: If some youngsters incite a dog, who goes and bites another dog or a person, who is liable — the dog’s owner or the youngsters?

A: Both carry an element of liability. The owner is legally liable for his animal’s damage, as any other case of keren (horn) — unusual behavior by the animal not for its pleasure (C.M. 395:1).

We mentioned previously that keren pays only half the damage and that beis din is not authorized to judge keren nowadays, but the victim can grab the amount owed.

Aruch Hashulchan (395:1) suggests that if the youngsters physically beat the dog, the owner does not carry liability, but other authorities do not make this distinction (Pischei Choshen, Nezikin 5:[92]).

If the dog bites one of the youngsters who incited it, the owner is exempt, since the youngster brought the trouble upon himself.

The youngsters — since they did not damage directly, but only caused it by inciting the dog — are considered grama. Therefore, they do not have an enforceable, legal liability but rather a chiyuv b’dinei Shamayim on the full amount. If the dog’s owner paid for the damage, their moral responsibility would be to reimburse him (P.C., ibid.).