Don’t blame the dog, blame the dog owner. It’s the law!

In cases of dog bites or attacks, the dog is usually the first to be blamed for the bite or attack and for the injuries suffered. In reality, the one to blame is the dog owner. Regardless of whether or not the dog owner was careless, the fact is that legal responsibility rests with the owner in all cases. Owning a dog carries inherent liability and risks associated with it.

The hospitals and health care providers in Ottawa, Ontario regularly treat dog bite and attack victims. The injuries can be minor, serious or even cause death. In many cases, the bite or attack could have been avoided had the dog owner simply been responsible.

The laws in Ontario are very strict when it comes to attaching liability on dog owners for injuries caused by dogs; and so they should be. Dog owners must take responsibility for their dogs. Knowing why dogs can bite or attack is an important component to protecting victims and reducing the chances or being sued. If your dog bites or attacks someone, you will in most cases have to pay damages, it’s the law.

As animals, dogs are unpredictable. Dogs have, some would argue, temperamental tendencies. If their particular temperament is triggered, they can bite or attack. Dogs can react in various ways and in various degrees.

Examples of the reasons dogs bite or attack are as follows: fear causing protection behaviour; territorial protection behaviour; sickness or illness; pain; protection of food; protection of people or property; protection of puppies, etc… Any of these can trigger an animal attack.

In other circumstances, dogs may attack because of particular interactions with people. For example, dogs can attack when being taunted or bitten, interference with food, threats to jurisdiction – territory, etc…

Dogs do not bite and hurt because they intend to hurt others, their behaviour is animalistic. In many cases, dogs attack and bite because of the failure of the dog owner to secure the dog and take steps to avoid circumstances that expose risk to bites or attacks.

For whatever reason, if a dog bites you or someone you care about, we can help. We are dog bite experts. As personal injury lawyers, we have handled many dog bite cases and have obtained significant amounts of money for dog bite victims. Call us for a free consultation at 613-315-4878. Ottawa Personal Injury Lawyers. Marc N. Quinn. Founding Partner. Quinn Thiele Mineault Grodzki LLP. No fee unless you win lawyers!