An employee of a Boardman restaurant learned that asking for permission to pet someone's dog doesn’t guarantee that you won’t be bitten.

A woman told township police last week she was working at the drive-thru lane of a restaurant on Boardman-Poland Road when she asked a man in a Jeep if she could pet his dog.

According to the police report, after the dog owner granted her permission, she reached out so the dog could sniff her hand before petting the animal through the Jeep window.

That’s when the dog lunged at her, biting her finger.

The woman, who was treated for a cut and bruised finger, was told by hospital officials she would need to undergo rabies shots since she didn’t know the dog’s vaccination history.

The woman gave police the license number of the Jeep and the name of the driver to police.

According to the Insurance Information Institute, about 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year, most of them children.

The average cost per claim for dog bites increased 31.7 percent in 2022 to $64,555 from $49,025 in 2021. The average cost per claim nationally has risen 131.7 percent from 2013 to 2022, due to increased medical costs and the size of settlements, judgments, and jury awards given to plaintiffs, which are trending upwards.

While homeowner's and renters’ insurance policies typically cover dog bite liability legal expenses, up to the liability limits (typically $100,000 to $300,000). If the claim exceeds the limit, the dog owner is responsible for all damage above that amount.

Pennsylvania and Michigan have laws that prohibit insurers from canceling or denying coverage to the owners of particular dog breeds in some policies.

Some states could exclude coverage after a dog bite, such as Ohio, which also requires owners of dogs classified as vicious to purchase at least $100,000 of liability insurance.