- Date: September 16th, 2015
- Victim’s Age: N/A
- Victim’s Sex: Female
- Occupation: N/A
- Place: Ontario
- Compensation/ Settlement Amount: $40,958
- Breed of Dogs: The Great Dane and Unknown
- On/Off property: Off
- Owner of the dogs: Neighbour
- Chained: No
- Relationship to dogs: Non-Family
- Multiple dogs: Yes
- Injuries sustained: injuries to left calf, left forearm, right thigh.
Summary
On April 10, 2003, a 56-year-old woman was seriously injured in a dog attack involving two large dogs. The dog owners were found liable under the Dog Liability Act, which imposes liability on dog owners if their dog attacks, bites or hurts someone.
The Horrific Dog Attack
On April 10th, 2003 a 56-year-old woman was attacked by her neighbour’s 2 large dogs. She had gone outside to get her mail when her neighbour’s dogs began to bark at her. one of the dogs attacked her and pulled her pants. she managed to make it inside with no injuries.
Later that day she saw a public health nurse visiting her neighbour when one of the dogs attacked the nurse. She went outside to help the nurse and the dog turned to attack her. One of the dogs bit her left arm after knocking her down and the other bit her hip. The dog that had bit her arm also then bit her left calf. With the help of the nurse and three other males, the dogs were pulled off of her.
Injuries
She suffered a large bite wound on the left calf and three puncture wounds on the left forearm near the elbow. In addition, there were scratches, bruising and swellings on the left thigh, a large bite wound on the right thigh, a scraped right elbow, and scraped right knee.
She had to rest for 4 months due to her injuries and she continues to have pain and has scarring.
Dangerous Dogs
This attack was not the first. The dogs were permitted to roam free and in a past incident, one of the dogs had attacked her and torn her clothes but had not caused any bodily harm. At the time of the first incident, she spoke to the dog owner directly who did nothing about what had happened besides posting a sign referring to the victim as a “dog hater”.
Compensation for victim
The victim successfully sued the dog owner and received $30,000 in general damage and $10,000 in aggravated damages. She received additional money for her out-of-pocket expenses and medical bills. In total, she received $40,958.20. Her husband received $3,000 under the Family Law act.