Did You Know About The Responsibilities of Being A Dog Owner?

Even though dogs are lovable and could easily be treated as a regular family member, pet ownership is definitely something which comes with quite a lot of responsibilities. Dog bites or attacks would oftentimes end up in minor or major injuries as well as substantial emotional trauma.

The majority of animals truly have proper manners but even the best trained ones of them could have their moment. Illness, stressful situations as well as old age could easily make your dog act out of its regular character. If you are a responsible pet owner, you have to keep your dog safe and to make sure that you have secured and attested to the safety of other people and pets that it comes in contact with.

The responsibilities of the dog owner are outlined and thoroughly numbered in the Dog Owner’s Liability Act of Ontario. This particular statutory provision stipulates that dog owners are responsible of the actions of their dogs, regardless of the circumstance. The consequences will definitely vary based on those circumstances but, in any case, the owner is always going to be found responsible. This sets forth an interesting legal institute which is known as “strict liability”. In other words, regardless of whether the dog owner could have prevented the accident or not and regardless of whether he has been at the place of the accident or not, he would be held liable.

Of course, in order to make the law fair and to account for circumstances which are completely out of the owner’s control, the law has set forth the institute of contributory negligence. If the victim has, somehow, attributed for the attack or for the damages which were caused by it, he or she would be found at fault and the compensation would be reduced accordingly.

You should never leave your dog unattended, regardless of whether there are children around or not. Children, however, are known to be particularly vulnerable when it comes to it. They are easy to reach and they are not usually aware of the proper ways to actually treat an animal. That is why if you check the statistics, most of the victims are minors.

In any case, if you find yourself in a situation in which your dog has attacked a person or even another pet and now you are facing a claim for injuries, you should make sure to hire a personal injury lawyer in Hamilton, with the relevant experience as quickly as it is possible. This is something particularly beneficial. With all this being said, the first thing to consider is always to make sure that the injuries are tended to. Calling for emergency medical attention is important and it’s definitely something that you ought to account for.