A Taiwanese judge has used a Google map feature that showed an unleashed dog to hold a man responsible for his neighbour's bicycle accident.

A defendant surnamed Lee denied being the dog's owner and causing injury through negligence.

The victim surnamed Peng testified that he became scared after the dog began pursuing him while he was riding his bicycle last July. He said he fell off the bike and injured his forehead.

Judge Song Kuo-chen said Thursday that a two-year-old Google Street View picture showed the dog standing in Lee's yard which meant that Lee was its owner.

Police had earlier said there were no other dogs in the rural neighbourhood in Miaoli County south of Taipei where Lee and the victim live.

The judge fined Lee 59,000 Taiwan dollars ($2,000).