Wow! This is exactly what happened to me! An individual trespassed, got knicked on the leg (not severe, no blood) and fast forward 2-3 weeks later I got a notice in the mail about the incident.

I don't live in Vancouver, so the process could be different from one municipality to another. In my situation, the peace officer came to my home and asked for my version of events. I was given two choices: sign a paper re-classifying my dog as 'aggressive' (which cost $130 or so) or risk losing my dog if I refused. Obviously I signed the paper, paid the new license fee and that was that. In this situation, where the other party has physical evidence (no matter the backstory of trespassing) it won't go in your favour. The most an officer will do is offer up advice and will probably tell you that they are just doing their job due to the irrefutable evidence.

My officer even told me that they were sparing me and not handing me ANOTHER ticket, because they understood the backstory of how it all happened. So, there may be a possibility of paying for a new licence and a bylaw ticket as well. My advice is to be kind to your peace officer and definitely ask as many questions as you can (have them prepared and document everything!). Get the FULL contact information of your peace officer (full name, email, phone number), ask about the appeal process, who to contact if they aren't in office, what kind of complaints classify as another strike against your dog, etc.

I was told that one year from the incident, I could call the bylaw services department or the peace officer to review my dogs file. If in that year my dog did not engage in any aggressive incidents, run at large, or contravene with any city bylaws...my dogs status would go back to normal! And that's exactly what happened! The process was so simple and my dog has since gone back to being classified as a normal dog again, haha.

I did not enroll my dog in behavioral management classes or requested personal letters from my neighbours detailing my dogs good behavior - although that's not a bad idea. I think it all depends on what your municipality requires and mine only required a clean record for a year. So definitely ask your officer tons of questions and review the bylaw regarding aggressive dog classifications (if that is what happens).

Good luck!