A woman who was bitten by a dog has had her claim for $4,862.62 in damages dismissed. Ying Shen had been heading towards the lobby of her apartment complex to wish the building’s concierge a happy holidays on the night of Christmas Eve, 2022, when she was bitten by a leashed mini Australian Shepherd, according to a B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal decision published May 5. Shen had exited an elevator at the same time neighbour Jeffrey Dale Polo had returned from a walk with his daughter’s dog, named Juliet. Polo had been waiting by the elevator’s doors to return to his apartment as Shen exited and, as the two passed each other, Juliet bit Shen on her hand. Polo apologized and said that the dog was “usually well behaved,” according to the decision. Shen said she experienced “intense and growing pain” after the bite and had taken an Uber to St. Paul’s Hospital emergency room where she received treatment for a “superficial abrasion” and a tetanus shot, the decision said. In an image seen by tribunal member Peter Nyhuus, Shen has a small open wound on the back of her hand, between her thumb and index finger. After Shen filed an incident report with the City of Vancouver a bylaw enforcement officer investigated the incident and decided Juliet was not an aggressive dog under the Animal Control Bylaw. The officer did find, however, that Juliet wasn’t licensed in accordance with the city’s Animal Control Bylaw - a factor that would ultimately help Nyhuus in making his decision in the case. 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 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.” Given that Juliet was unlicensed, Nyhuus noted that it is unlikely the dog would have bitten before as it would have aroused the attention of an investigating bylaw officer, who would have noticed that Juliet was unlicensed and ordered Polo to license her much sooner. Polo also wasn’t deemed negligent in the incident as he had a “reasonable grip” on Juliet and had her on a short leash, close to his body, when the elevator had opened. “While I sympathize with Miss Shen, I am bound to apply the law as it stands. In the eyes of the law, what happened on December 24 was essentially an accident that no one is to blame for,” said Nyhuus. “As such, Miss Shen’s loss and damages are not compensable,” he said.
