The first thing that you need to take into account when it comes to dog bite is that they are quite common. Over 200,000 bites per year tend to happen in Canada and a good portion of those happen in Ontario. However, there are quite a few things that you might want to take into account when it comes to a dog bite case and this is mainly because of the fact that there are a lot of variables.
For instance, you need to account for the fact of whether or not the dog has been provoked. While the Dog Owner’s Liability Act of Ontario sets forth the so called strict liability which can’t be entirely waved, you can get the compensation significantly reduced. So, in case your dog has attacked another person but it was actively provoked, there are quite a few things that you might want to account for.
Institute of contributory negligence
As we mentioned above, the Dog Owner’s Liability Act of Ontario sets forth the strict liability for the dog owner. This means that regardless of how faulty the other party is, the owner is still going to be held accountable. Of course, there are things that you want to account for when it comes to it.
You need to understand that there is contributory negligence regulated in the legal provisions of the Dog Owner’s Liability Act. As per the latter, if the injured had somehow incentivized the attack willingly or with aforethought, the liability of dog owner has to be reduced accordingly.
Being the defendant
Now, in the majority of the cases, the dog owner is almost always going to be the defendant. However, when it comes to contributory negligence, he is also acting as a plaintiff – the one who’s trying to prove that the actual plaintiff in the case, the victim, actually provoked the dog. This is important and you need to take it into consideration.
So how do you prove this? Well, there is a whole lot of circumstances which are going to be regarded. For instance, you need to establish that the dog isn’t usually aggressive and that it hasn’t acted in a manner of the kind before. This is likely to skew the situation in your favor a bit – it’s important to account for it. With this in mind, it’s important to establish the behavior of the victim – that he was actually incentivizing the dog to attack or acting in such a way which naturally caused the dog to get aggressive. There are a lot of different things which can attribute to this so there is a leeway for action.
However, irrespective of whether you are the plaintiff or the defendant, it is best to consult the injury lawyer in Huntsville so that there is no question of losing out on justice. Be honest with your lawyer so that they can draft a case accordingly.