Genuine question, would you not be held responsible in the US if a meteor hit your fence allowing your dog to get out and bite someone? I know that it was unpreventable but isn’t it still your dog and your responsibility?
You can be sued for anything but I suspect in this case the “Act of God” clause would come into pay and insurance would (or wouldn’t) cover it.
Eg if you had a known dangerous dog that had bitten twelve babies before but you didn’t destroy it, you’re up the creek even if it got out because of the meteor.
But if the dog only but because it’s tail got singed by the meteor, you’d probably be ok.
Nothing is absolutely guaranteed in the US legal system, but as I understand it it’s not legally your responsibility.
In the same way you may generally be responsible if you rear end someone, but if it was caused by someone rear ending you then that’s not your fault. That may seem obvious, but if someone stoped several car lengths back to lower the risk of someone getting hit if you’re rear ended. Thus the standard is reasonable precautions rather than requiring people to do absolutely anything possible.
Eg if you had a known dangerous dog that had bitten twelve babies before but you didn’t destroy it, you’re up the creek even if it got out because of the meteor.
But if the dog only but because it’s tail got singed by the meteor, you’d probably be ok.