If your dog attacks a person or animal, you can be convicted and fined up to $3,000. If the attack causes injury, the penalties unsurprisingly can be much worse. You may be fined, ordered to do community work or even sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
What about the dog?
This next bit often surprises people. When a matter has progressed to the courtroom then, where an attack has occurred, the Judge MUST order the destruction of the dog unless the exceptional circumstances test is met. The Judge has no discretion on that outcome.
The practical advice here is that if your dog is involved in an attack, then contacting a lawyer ‘as quickly as possible’ is your best next step toward avoiding prosecution and, worse for your dog, a destruction order.
The process, and what your lawyer can do for you and your dog, will be covered in another post.