A rule that depends on where the bite happened
7 M.R.S. §3961(2) provides that when a dog injures a person who is not on the owner's or keeper's premises, the owner or keeper is liable for the damages — no proof of negligence or prior aggression needed. When the injury happens on the owner's or keeper's premises, the general rule in subsection 1 applies instead: liability requires negligence of the owner or keeper, and the damage must not have been occasioned through the fault of the person injured.
The fault provision is unusual. For a strict-liability bite, any fault on the part of the injured person may not reduce the damages recovered for physical injury unless the court determines that person's fault exceeded the fault of the dog's keeper or owner. That means a victim found 50% at fault still recovers in full — the opposite of Maine's ordinary 50% bar. The statute reaches both the owner and the keeper, meaning anyone in possession or control of the dog.