Dog Bite Claims in Ontario: Your Rights Under the Dog Owners' Liability Act

A dog bite can leave lasting physical scars and deep emotional trauma — especially for children, who are the most frequent victims. The good news is that Ontario law is unusually favourable to bite victims. Here's how the Dog Owners' Liability Act works, what your claim may be worth, who actually pays, and the steps that protect your right to compensation.

Ontario Uses Strict Liability — There Is No "One Free Bite"

Some jurisdictions apply a "one free bite" rule, where an owner is only responsible if they knew their dog was dangerous. Ontario is different. Under the Dog Owners' Liability Act, an owner is strictly liable for damage their dog causes by biting or attacking — regardless of whether the dog had ever been aggressive before, and regardless of whether the owner was careless. In plain terms: you generally do not have to prove the owner did anything wrong, only that their dog caused your injury. That makes dog-bite claims one of the more straightforward areas of personal injury law.

What Counts as a Dog Attack

The Act covers bites, but also other attacks — a dog that knocks someone down, or that causes injury while lunging or chasing. It applies whether the attack happens on the owner's property, in a park, on the street, or anywhere else. The law also allows recovery where a dog causes you to injure yourself trying to escape it.

Injuries and Why Children's Cases Are Different

Dog-attack injuries are frequently serious:

• Puncture wounds, deep lacerations and crush injuries
• Nerve and tendon damage — particularly to hands and arms raised in defence
• Permanent scarring and disfigurement, often the largest single component of damages
• Serious infections
• Psychological trauma, anxiety, nightmares and PTSD

Children are bitten more often than adults, are more likely to suffer facial injuries because of their height, and often carry lasting emotional effects. For child victims, the limitation period does not begin until they turn 18, which means a claim can be pursued years later — though early evidence still matters.

Who Pays a Dog Bite Settlement?

This surprises many victims: dog-bite claims are usually paid by the owner's home or tenant insurance, which almost always includes personal liability coverage. That means pursuing a claim typically does not take money directly from the owner — a crucial point when the dog belongs to a neighbour, friend or relative. You are really making a claim against an insurance policy that exists for this exact situation.

What Dog Bite Claims Are Worth

Value depends on the severity of the injury, the permanence of scarring, nerve involvement and psychological impact. Minor bites that heal cleanly may settle modestly; serious facial scarring, hand injuries affecting function, or lasting trauma — especially in children — can support substantial claims. Because scarring and psychological harm are so central, a proper valuation often requires plastic-surgery and psychological assessments. See our settlement amounts guide for context.

What to Do After a Dog Bite

1. Get medical care immediately — bites carry a high infection risk and may need wound care or antibiotics.
2. Identify the dog and its owner — name, address and vaccination status.
3. Photograph the injuries early and as they heal, plus the location.
4. Get witness contact details.
5. Report the bite to your municipality's animal-services department.
6. Speak to a lawyer before dealing with the owner's insurer.

Scarring, Children and the Role of Expert Assessments

In many dog-bite cases, the single largest component of the claim is not the initial wound but the permanent scarring and psychological impact that follow. This is especially true for children, who heal physically but may carry lasting fear of dogs, nightmares and anxiety for years. Because these harms are difficult to quantify with a simple medical note, properly valued dog-bite claims often rely on expert assessments — a plastic surgeon to document the permanence and treatability of scarring, and a psychologist or psychiatrist to assess emotional trauma. These reports frequently transform a claim an insurer wanted to close for a few thousand dollars into something far more reflective of the real, lasting damage.

Timing and documentation matter here too. Photographs of the injury as it heals — from the fresh wound through to the settled scar — create a powerful visual record. Keeping a simple journal of a child's emotional reactions, sleep disruption and avoidance behaviours gives the psychological assessment concrete material to work with. Parents often underestimate how seriously the law takes these lasting effects, and settle too early for too little. A free consultation will tell you whether your child's case warrants these assessments — and it usually does.

The Bottom Line

Ontario's strict-liability rule gives dog-bite victims a strong starting position, and most claims are paid by insurance rather than by the owner personally. If you or your child was bitten, you may be entitled to meaningful compensation for scarring, treatment, trauma and more. A free consultation costs nothing. Call (416) 252-9937 or reach Olga Kanevsky — including in Russian or Ukrainian.