A B.C. dog owner is on the hook for $1,000 after her unleashed pet bit another dog.
According to a Civil Resolution Tribunal decision posted earlier this month, Julie Walker alleged that her dog Muffin, was on a leash and being walked by a friend when Shahab Malek-Afazli’s dog Bibi attacked Muffin. Walker said it cost $870.74 in vet bills to treat Muffin’s wound.
The decision notes that while Malek-Afazli didn’t see the bite, she agreed that Bibi was off-leash in the front yard at the time, being watched only be her children.
Malek-Afazli asserted that because she did not see the biting, she didn’t believe it had happened.
“I disagree,” wrote tribunal member Julie K. Gibson.
Gibson cited evidence of the vet bills from Mountainside Animal Hospital the same day as the attack, and a follow up appointment.
The decision states that Walker handed out flyers in the neighbourhood after the attack, asking if they saw or heard anything or had any “prior experience with this dog being aggressive.”
Two neighbours said they had see Bibi being aggressive in the past, including charging out of her yard and biting a small dog.
Records from the District of North Vancouver show that Bibi was seen “a large” in February 2016.
Gibson wrote that she did not believe Malek-Afazli’s claim that Bibi was not aggressive and that the owner was unaware of the dog’s past violent history.
“I find it was negligent to leave Bibi unleashed in the front yard, without adult supervision,” Gibson wrote. “I say this because the respondent admits that Bibi would become upset when other dogs entered the yard.”
The tribunal ordered Malek-Afazli to pay Walker $1,002.53 to recoup $870.74 in veterinary care, $6.78 pre-judgement interest and and $125 in tribunal fees.
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