Dog Walkers – Beware!

In the January 2017 Ontario Court of Appeal decision of Wilk v. Arbour, the Court was asked to determine when a person is considered to be in possession of a dog for the purposes of the Dog Owners' Liability Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. D. 16 ("the Act"). The facts of this case were as follows: on December 28, 2013, Donna Marie Wilk took her boyfriend's nine year old dog, Zeus, for a walk, during which time Zeus suffered a seizure and became unconscious, while on a leash. Upon regaining consciousness, Zeus, a Great Dane, "backed up, came out of his collar, slipped on ice and fell down an embankment into a ditch. Ms. Wilk tried to retrieve Zeus, but also slipped into the ditch. She [then] collided with Zeus and Zeus bit her thumb, causing her to lose her thumb above the joint". Ms. Wilk commenced a lawsuit as a result, and in doing so relied upon section 2 of the Act, the relevant provisions of which are as follows:

(1) In this Act, "owner" when used in relation to a dog, includes a person who possesses or harbours the dog and, where the owner is a minor, the person responsible for the custody of the minor.

(1) The...