Who Is Considered Liable For A Dog Bite Or Attack?

The unfortunate truth is that a dog bite could be particularly traumatizing and rather shocking experience. This could leave the victim with long lasting emotional and physical scars. In Ontario, however, the legislative authority has seen the necessity of proper regulation and has allowed the victim to seek compensation and hold the owner of the dog liable for the harm which has resulted. This is something particularly beneficial.

Now, it’s important to note that the owner of the animal carries general obligation to make sure that the animal behaves in a way which is safe. Furthermore, the former is also responsible to ensure that the necessary and reasonable precautions are taken in order to prevent the dog from inflicting damage to another animal or a human being.

What does the law say?

The law in the province of Ontario in Canada is contained mainly in the Dog Owner’s Liability Act from 1990. The dog owner could be subjected to the institute of the so-called strict liability. This means that he might be made to sustain all the consequences which stem from the aggressive and dangerous behavior of his animal. This is something which needs to be taken under very serious consideration.

What is strict liability?

This is probably the first question that got you going. Now, the institute of strict liability suggests that regardless of whether or not the dog owner had been present at the time of the attack, he still carries the responsibility. The solution is fairly simple yet rather effective.

The first thing, however, that any victim should do, immediately after the attack, is to seek medical assistance. Only after this has been done should you consider getting in touch with the owner of the dog in order to initiate the negotiations regarding your potential compensation. Now, there are quite a lot of complications which might arise in the course of the case. With this in mind, dog bite victims are actively encouraged to seek the professional assistance of a personal injury lawyer with the necessary experience in the field of dog bites.

There is the so-called institute of contributory negligence which needs to be taken into absolute consideration as it’s something which is capable of having a significant impact on your case. This is when you’ve contributed for the attack by actively irritating the dog, taunting it to attack. If that’s the case, the defendant has the ability to claim contributory negligence. Even though his liability wouldn’t be stripped off, your compensation will be reduced in accordance to the actual negligence that you’ve showed by incentivizing the attack. The solution is fair as it’s almost certain that without your interference the attack wouldn’t have taken place. Thus, there are various aspects that have to be considered before the injury lawyer can pin the liability on the dog’s owner.