Woman Loses Injury Case After Tribunal Says ‘Every Dog Is Entitled to One Bite’

On Christmas Eve 2022, Ying Shen headed out of her Vancouver apartment to spread some holiday cheer by wishing the concierge of her apartment complex a Merry Christmas. Instead, Shen got bit by Juliet, a mini–Australian Shepherd, a dog that lived in the building.

The bite left a superficial wound on Shen that caused her some pain and resulted in an ER visit and a tetanus shot. Juliet’s handler at the time, Jeffrey Dale Polo, is the father of Juliet’s owner.

He did everything a dog handler should do to prevent such accidents from happening. He had Juliet leashed, and he had her in a short, firm grip. He was entering the elevator with Juliet as Shen was exiting.

Juliet, being the nonsensical dog that she is, raised her head and bit Shen on the hand. Polo quickly fired off an apology. The whole thing just goes to show that accidents can still happen, even after you take every precaution.

Still, Shen wasn’t pleased. She filed a claim for $4,862.62 in damages. The case was brought before the British Columbia Civil Resolution Tribunal. Shen argued that the bite caused intense pain and required an ER visit, making her entitled to compensation. On the other side, Polo argued that he did everything he could, but sometimes dogs just do dog things.

The tribunal’s decision hinged on two things: the nature of the dog’s bite and whether or not the dog had a history of violence. Or, as CTVnews.ca put it, “of the animal’s dangerous propensity.”

Tribunal member Peter Nyhuus explained that the law subscribes to the idea that “every dog is entitled to one bite.” Canadian civil law is giving dogs one free pass to rip and tear before anyone assumes they’re dangerous. Kind of sweet.

Since Juliet had never bitten anyone before, and wasn’t on Animal Control’s radar, likely due to being unlicensed, there was no legal way for Shen to claim Polo “should have known” that Juliet was capable of biting someone.

Despite Juliet being unlicensed, that alone wasn’t enough to prove negligence or liability. The tribunal ruled that the whole thing was just bad timing and bad luck—“essentially an accident that no one is to blame,” according to Nyhuus.

The city is ordering Polo to license Juliet, and Shen’s claim was denied, all because, apparently, every dog gets one free bite.

But after that, they are officially on notice.