A friend of mine approached me quite distressed yesterday, and his situation has left me a little distressed as well. His dog bit his neighbor. The dog was on a leash at the time on his own property, but reacted aggressively when the neighbor tried to approach him. Thankfully the bite didn’t appear too serious, but the event was nevertheless quite upsetting for everyone involved.
A dog bite can be almost as traumatic for the owner as it is for the victim. In addition to the obvious concerns about the well being of the victim, a dog bite can have serious financial implications for the owner and can be a matter of life and death for the dog.
There are as many myths about the law surrounding dog bites as there are breeds of dog. Some people will tell you that the law says that any dog that bites must be put down; others will say that a dog can’t be destroyed for a single, isolated incident. They’re both wrong. The old common law rule was that a dog owner could be held liable for his pet, but that “every dog is allowed one bite”. In other words, a single incidence of aggressive behaviour wasn’t enough to doom the dog, but the owner was on notice from that point forward and would be held fully responsible for any future attacks. However, many places have introduced laws to replace this old rule, and this will be what determines what happens in the case of a dog bite. Here in Newfoundland and Labrador, that law is called the Dog Act and it says that a dog owner is liable for the actions of his dog, regardless of whether or not the dog has a history of aggressive behaviour. Ontario has a similar law, as do many other jurisdictions. It also gives a court the power to order any dog destroyed if it is satisfied that the dog is dangerous or has attacked a person or other animal. In most cases, the authorities can’t just destroy your dog without getting an order from a court, and if things do get this far you have a right to be heard and present your side of the story.
So, what should you do if your dog bites someone? The first and most obvious thing to do is to offer any assistance necessary to the victim. This has nothing to do with the law and everything to do with being a decent human being. Help out however you can. If your moral compass doesn’t point you in this direction, keep in mind the purely practical side- this person could easily make your life very difficult in the near future, and your cooperation and goodwill may go a long way in bringing things to an amicable resolution. Once the immediate concerns have been dealt with, here’s what you need to do:
- Don’t panic - Your dog isn’t the first to bite, and it won’t be the last. You’re not automatically going to lose your dog, and your insurance may cover any financial liability. This is a serious situation, but not necessarily a disastrous one.
- Talk to any witnesses - Check to see if anybody saw the incident, and politely speak with them. You may want to get their name and number in case you need to contact them again at some point down the road. It’s quite likely that your version of events will differ from those of the victim, and independent witnesses may be the best route to finding the truth that lies somewhere in between.
- Talk to your insurance company - Most homeowner insurance policies will cover liability for dog bites. If there are injuries or a chance that the victim will take any sort of legal action against you, call your insurer to inform them of the incident and see what advice they have to offer. They will likely appoint an adjuster to investigate the claim and, if necessary, a lawyer to defend you. Don’t admit any liability or offer to pay any expenses before talking to your insurance company.
- Offer to pay expenses - If your insurance company isn’t going to cover you or you choose not to get them involved, you should consider offering to pay for any direct expenses that the victim incurs, such as medical costs or prescriptions. This is another one of those goodwill gestures that you can offer in an attempt to resolve the matter, and in the majority of cases you’re ultimately going to be held liable for these expenses in the end. Acting early and with compassion can help ease the situation and may put you in a better position if matters do escalate. If there are reasons why you think you’re not responsible, such as provocation, consult with your lawyer to get an idea of where you stand.
- Talk to your vet and local dog trainer- Talk to the professionals about the incident and get their take on what occurred and your dog’s demeanour in general. They’ve got more experience with aggressive animals than you do, and they’re likely to be more objective as well. Listen to their advice, even if it’s not what you want to hear.
- DON’T talk to police or animal control without consulting with your lawyer - Finally, if the authorities want to question you or ask you about the incident, know that you’re under no obligation to speak with them. That doesn’t mean you should obstruct their investigation, but you should consult with a local lawyer before answering any questions or giving any sort of statement. This is a good approach for any situation involving police questioning, but especially when your pet’s life may be on the line.
I am as much a pet lover as anyone, and I understand the attachment people have to their pets. If a court thinks that your dog is aggressive or this behaviour is likely to happen again, there’s a definite chance that it will order your dog euthanized. Even if the court doesn’t make such an order, it is your duty as a responsible pet owner to look at the situation as objectively as possible and, with the help of your vet and trainer, decide if putting your dog down is the appropriate response. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that any dog that bites should be destroyed, but in some cases that will be the best and most responsible course of action. Also keep in mind that while you may be able to deal with one biting incident, any future incidents will almost certainly result in substantial liability and the destruction of your pet. You will need to remain extremely cautious in the future, as a second incident will be taken much more seriously than the first.
This article is the author’s opinion and for information purposes only, and should not be taken as legal advice or relied upon in any way. Consult with a local lawyer prior to taking any action.
Photo by Amerk.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
If you have young children in your home, the dog definitely needs to go to a new home with no children. I had to do this with one of our dogs years ago. You cannot take a chance on aggression re-appearing in the presence of a child who might annoy or frighten the dog.
There’s no way to justify keeping a dog after it has shown a propensity to bite, even if it was provoked. I hope your friend does the right thing, even if its hard to do.
@Mr. ToughMoneyLove- excellent point; when kids are involved, the choice should be a clear one. I’m not sure that this means destroying the dog, but it certainly means removing it from your house.
@Davenet - Thanks for stopping by and for your comment. I’m not sure that I would got as far as you would, though- I don’t think that every show of agression necessarily requires getting rid of the dog. You’ve got to weigh each situation based on what happened, your family situation, and the dog’s overall behaviour.
The personality of the dog is certainly an important factor. Our last dog was a giant lapdog with us, but very aggressive with strangers, and a 90+ pound dog could do some serious damage, especially to a child.
After one nipping incident involving someone whom the dog had met before, and considering the fact that we had a small child (who the dog had never been aggressive with- yet), my husband made the difficult decision to have the dog euthanized. This was after early socialization and professional obedience training, neither of which ‘fixed’ him. Tough decision to carry out, but better than someone losing a finger- or worse.
Allison Wonder- sorry to hear that you had to euthanize your dog. We were faced with the same dilemma about 3 years ago and did the same thing. It’s not easy, but it was the right move. Even so, I don’t think it’s always necessary, but its better to err on the side of caution.
After one nipping incident involving someone whom the dog had met before
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Can I ask what makes a “nip” v. “bite.” I hear people mention “nipping” a lot?
This look interesting,so far.
If there’s anyone else here, let me know.
Oh, and yes I’m a real person LOL.
See ya,
My two American Eskimos recently “escaped” from my ex-husband’s yard (we have shared custody) and bit his neighbor’s child. Unfortunately, this was the second time they did this and so Animal Control has quarantined both dogs for 10 days. I’ve already made the assumption that my ex and I will be exposed to a law suit and my ex contacted his insurance company. They say that they (and most insurance companies) will cover the legal costs for this but if it happens again, they will not. Additionally, if the dogs bite again, they WILL be euthanized by court order. I’ve done all the right things like hiring a personal dog trainer, etc. but the dogs are only with me parttime…the rest of the time they are with my ex-husband (we have shared custody). Incidentally, both bites occurred at his home, not mine. I am certain the training as not been successful because of the shared households…consistency is imperative. I feel horrible about this situation especially when I feel that I’ve tried to train them and I walk them regulary to relieve agression. Unfortunately, perhaps this happened because they are not with me 100 percent of the time. Needless to say, I’m not sleeping very well lately.
“Can I ask what makes a “nip” v. “bite.” I hear people mention “nipping” a lot?”
My dog recently nipped one of my neighbors children. “The child was not hurt at all” I took the dog to our vet to talk to him and get his opinion the next day. He did blood test to rule out any hormonal imbalance problems and did some behavioral test and decided that there were no reason to believe the dog would attack anyone. This dose not mean not to take precautions to avoid any future situations. He told me a Nip is a defensive warning that is intended to scare but not hurt. A bite is an aggressive attack which may fallow an ignored warning or just come out of the blue In my case the vet felt that the kid scared, challenged the dog domain, or hurt the dog and the dog communicated the only way he could that he did not like the situation and to back off. People do this all the time its just not considered to be as frightening.
My pit bull ran out of the gate while my mother was feeding him and bit 3 people. I did not see him bite anyone but when I caught up to him it was a mob of people chasing him around hitting him with shovels, rakes and large auto equipment. From the stories that I was told people began hitting him b4 he’d attacked anyone. The police arrived and shot him because he was franticly running around and I could not get a hold of him. I’m very regretful that he bit anyone but I wonder if any of this would have happened had the people just left him alone.
we acted responsibly when a neighbor was slightly nipped after kicking at our dog, retrieving another neighbors Yorkshire in our yard, we chained our dog and the victim refused any medical attention,meanwhile animal control arrived next door and wanted to seize him, not allowing us to find his records or giving us any time even though we knew he had at least 2 rabies shots at our local animal shelter….did we have the right to refuse them from taking him after we told them no….????