Your Dog Bit Someone on Your Property: What Ontario’s Dog Owners’ Liability Act Means for Homeowners and Tenants

Quick Answer

Day of the bite: owner, place, victim, reason for being there

Weeks after: possible Ontario Court of Justice proceeding (ss. 4, 5)

Civil claim: strict liability, reduced by the victim’s own fault (s. 2)

Two years: the general limitation period (Limitations Act, s. 4)

The day of the bite: four facts the Act will ask about

Everything later in this article depends on four facts that are already set by the time anyone reaches for a phone.

• Who is the owner? Under s.1(1), “owner” includes a person who possesses or harbours the dog, and where the owner is a minor, the person responsible for the minor’s custody. A tenant who keeps a dog in the unit possesses it. The Act does not define “harbours” any further, so whether someone else in the picture counts, such as a person minding the dog or a landlord, is something a court decides on the facts.
• Where did it happen? If the bite or attack happened on the owner’s premises, s.3(1) says the owner’s liability is decided under DOLA and not under the Occupiers’ Liability Act.
• Who or what was bitten? Section 2(1) covers a bite or attack on another person or a domestic animal, so an attack on another animal can fall inside the Act too. The Act does not define “domestic animal”.
• Why was the injured person there? If the person was on the premises intending to commit, or committing, a criminal act, s.3(2) says the owner is not liable under s.2, unless keeping the dog on the premises was unreasonable for protecting people or property.

The weeks after: a proceeding about the dog in the Ontario Court of Justice

Separate from any claim for money, s.4(1) allows a proceeding to be started in the Ontario Court of Justice against a dog’s owner if it is alleged that the dog bit or attacked a person or domestic animal, that it behaved in a way that poses a menace to the safety of people or domestic animals, or that the owner did not exercise reasonable precautions to prevent either of those. Notice the third ground: a proceeding does not need a bite at all.

Part IX of the Provincial Offences Act governs this proceeding (s.4(1.2)), and findings of fact are made on the balance of probabilities (s.4(1.3)). What the court can do:

• Interim order (s.4(2)): while the matter is pending, require the owner to take specified measures for more effective control of the dog.
• Final order (s.4(3)): if the court finds a bite, attack, or menace and is satisfied an order is necessary to protect the public, it may order the dog destroyed, or order the owner to take specified control or public-safety measures.
• The Act’s 4 examples of control measures (s.4(4)): confining the dog to its owner’s property, a leash, a muzzle, and posting warning signs.
• Sterilization (s.4(7)): a dog under a control order must be neutered or spayed within 30 days of the order, unless the court sets a different period.
• No more dogs for a while (s.5): the court may prohibit the owner from owning another dog for a specified period.

In deciding on a final order, the court may consider 7 listed circumstances in s.4(6), including the dog’s past and present temperament, how serious the injuries were, unusual circumstances tending to justify what the dog did, and any other circumstance the court considers relevant.

The civil claim: how damages are measured

If the injured person sues for damages, s.2 sets four rules.

• Liability without proof of fault. Under s.2(3), the owner’s liability does not depend on fault or negligence, or on knowing the dog had a propensity to bite. The injured person does not have to show you were careless.
• The plaintiff’s own conduct counts. The same subsection says the court shall reduce the damages in proportion to the degree, if any, to which the plaintiff’s own fault or negligence caused or contributed to them. How much reduction a set of facts justifies is for the court; the Act does not set a percentage.
• More than one owner. Under s.2(2), multiple owners are jointly and severally liable, which means the injured person can look to any one of them for the full amount.
• Passing part of it on. Under s.2(4), an owner who has to pay can recover contribution and indemnity from any other person in proportion to how much that person’s fault or negligence caused or contributed to the damage.

This article doesn’t assess insurance. Whether a home or tenant policy responds to a claim like this depends on the wording of your own policy, so check its personal liability section and ask your insurer or broker.

The clock: two years to start a claim

According to the Limitations Act, 2002 (s.4), unless that Act provides otherwise, a proceeding cannot be started after the second anniversary of the day the claim was discovered. Under s.5(2), the person with the claim is presumed to have known the relevant facts on the day the act or omission took place, unless the contrary is proved. For a dog bite, the act in question is the bite itself.

The Limitations Act has its own separate rules for minors and for people who are incapable, which can change when the clock runs. Those rules are outside the scope of this article; if the injured person is a child, get legal advice on the timing specifically.

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