(a) Owners of dogs shall be liable for any damage done by their dogs.
(b) The owners of any dogs which shall bite any person, while such person is on or in a public place, or lawfully on or in a private place, including the place of the owner of such dogs, shall be liable for such damages as may be suffered by persons bitten, regardless of the former viciousness of such dog or the owners' knowledge of such viciousness. A person is lawfully upon private property of such owner within the meaning of this section when he is on such property in the performance of any duty imposed by the laws of the Virgin Islands or by the laws or regulations of the United States, or when he is on such property upon invitation, expressed or implied, of the owner thereof; provided, however, no owner of any dog shall be liable for any damages to any person or his property when such person shall mischievously or carelessly provoke or aggravate the dog inflicting such damages; nor shall any such owner be so liable if at the time of any such injury he had displayed in a prominent place on his premises a sign easily readable including the words “Bad Dog” or “Beware of Dog”.