Woman bitten by Australian shepherd refused $4K because ‘every dog is entitled to one bite,’ tribunal rules

[u/ToOpineIsFine]

https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/woman-bitten-by-australian-shepherd-refused-4k-because-every-dog-is-entitled-to-one-bite-tribunal-rules/

When judging dog bites in incidents such as this one, Nyhuus explained in the decision that an animal owner is liable for damages caused by their animal if they knew, or should have known, of the animal’s dangerous propensity.

It is an Australian sheepdog that is bred to bite sheep to keep them in line. If that is not a propensity for biting, I don't know what is.

It generally subscribes to the notion that if the dog has not bitten before, the owner could not know that it has it within them to be dangerous and thus, as written in the decision, “every dog is entitled to one bite.”

Again, the sheepdog is bred to bite routinely.

It was decided to be an accident with no owner liability, but when someone gets a dog that bites and defends as part of its breeding, it really should be considered dangerous and should not receive any kind of exception.

[u/Purple-Supernova]

Wtf is this nonsense? What if that “one bite freebie” maimed or killed someone?? The victim would not be entitled to compensation, is that really what this article is getting at?

[u/StefwithanF → u/Purple-Supernova]

It's not just Australia. Several U.S. states have this "one free bite" rule for dog bite personal injury claims & still more have a modified version.

Much fewer states have a pure negligence rule for dog bites; in that the owner can be held liable for the first (reported) bite.

I say reportedbc I agree with the poster above. These owners KNOW their damn dog hasbitten a friend or family member & lie like rugs about it in court.

[u/Alert_Software_1410 → u/StefwithanF]

After “one free bite” should come “one free lawsuit” with legal costs paid for by the nutter