LETTER – Who pays when an urban deer attacks a person or a pet?
(Image: John Noakes)
Good morning Armchair Mayor,
Our dog Buddy sensed the presence of deer in our front yard just before 2 a.m. on Nov. 16. His barks at the window wakened me and looking out the window, I saw the deer in our front yard. Urban deer have become commonplace not only in Westmount subdivision but in many parts of the city.
Although they are “cute”, they are still wild animals. It seems there are more and more reports of people and pets (dogs especially) being injured by urban deer. Dogs have been killed by urban deer.
I understand that signage has been placed in a B.C. municipality by authorities from the Provincial government. The message on the signs is to be aware of deer and give them a wide berth. However, that becomes a bit of a challenge when the deer have become regular visitors to private properties.
I have a question about legal responsibility for injury caused by urban deer. In the case where the deer are present on private property, would home owner insurance cover any claims made for personal injury to the home owner or someone close by (on the boulevard or street) and a deer attacked a person? What about a deer that is on a city street and it decides to attack a person or the person’s dog and injury or death resulted? Could the municipality be sued for injury claims?
It’s food for thought, Mel. What do you and/or your readers say?
JOHN NOAKES,
Citizen of Westmount
ArmchairMayor.ca 
David, at what point do we take action? Twenty yrs ago there was only a handful of deer in the city, thirty yrs ago just a few sightings, forty yrs ago there were none, not a single sighting, today they are all over the place. This is more than a simple trend, I don’t have an answer but I do think we ought to be having a discussion on how we need to more forward concerning wildlife in the city. Deer, bighorn sheep, bears, cougars, lynx and coyotes have all been seen within the city limits with wolves just outside the limits. We’re becoming an urban game farm. We’ve never had this before and a conversation is needed.
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In a word … no.
If the animal is a potential threat (bear, cougar, etc), then the appropriate wildlife or conservation officer should be notified. They will respond to such reports and are tasked with performing whatever is necessary to keep the community safe. If an attack on a resident occurs while the officer is on site, then yes the officer or his/her employer could be liable. If the department refuses to attend a dangerous animal sighting once reported, then they are also liable to damages.
The report of a dangerous animal is a different deal to what is asked here, but its important to differentiate between the two cases.
A wandering prey animal (deer, beaver, bird) is statistically unlikely to attack anyone (or a property like a dog) who takes regular precautions from being a subject of an attack – stay away, dont approach, dont feed, dont approach the young, leash and remove a dog, etc. We all know what to do.
That knowledge makes the difference as does the likelihood of attack.
As such precautions are considered reasonable by any person, then it is statistically very unlikely that the animal will attack. These (and all animals) will normally respond to an actual threat, and they will balance the potential benefit (being left alone, and not under threat) with that of injury if they attack you. In almost all cases, the potential of injury is too great, so they dont go out of their way to attack if not provoked.
They generally wont attack on their own, and wildlife / city liability reflects this reality. It is not the legal responsibility for a City to house wildlife, so the city holds no liability, if the animal is not being directly attended by the City or wildlife department official.
Leash the dog, turn and leave, or enter your house if on the lawn, and there is no question of liability. There isnt any.
Theres more legal mumbojumbo to explain this, but thats the gist of the idea.
No, the City or Regional District or town are not liable for a non dangerous wildlife attack, as there is no statistical threat of attack if the resident reacts appropriately.
Imagine the range of historical lawsuits and what the reality would be today if there was significant liability. Every deer entering the city … would be shot to protect against liability … period.
Not a world I want to live in. I’d rather just take responsibility and leave them alone.
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David, my concern is that these deer or ”prey animals” will attract threat animals like cougars and wolves on the edges of town, such as Westsyde, where there’s been numerous sightings of these types of hunter animals. What happens the day a cougar comes looking for a simple meal and stumbles across a group of kids in a schoolyard playing.
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I think this subject deserves some serious consideration. Mac, I agree that animals such as cougars have been attracted by deer into urban areas.
Recently, a woman jogging with her dog (in Kelowna I believe) was gored and tossed by a buck. His antlers punctured the woman’s legs. She was fortunate to have not suffered injuries that may have required long term care.
I don’t believe the woman had any time to take evasive action or report the deer to authorities before the attack took place.
Here in Kamloops, I think that a dog was killed by a deer. There again, no time to “reason” with the deer before the attack or even go back to a residence for safety.
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Ahhh … you didnt ask that before, nor say anything like this was a concern, even though up top of my response was all about dangerous animal sightings. You asked about liability regarding deer conflicts.
Switching to this new question, the same decision process would happen. If anyone sees a cougar or other potential threat animal, they should call it in and officers would have to respond, in the communities best interest, and make the proper decision.
If your asking if I want tax dollars to go towards expensive conservation/wildlife staff following deer or groups of deer around all year, just in case a cougar just might be around and hungry … ya, no, even though of course a predator is attracted to them, there is a balance of reasonableness to consider.
EVERYONE should be attentive, if they see a cougar … call it in.
The only single other answer is to eradicate / cull the entire deer or prey animal population around town, to remove the possibility … and that wont go over well … so we have what we have.
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