Animals / Animal Rights

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My bodega, Village Farm & Grocery – where I’ve gotten my paper on my way to the subway for the past 10+ years – used to have a sweet, cow-colored cat named “Princess” who, in my experience, was nothing like the “opossum-like” monster described in Napolitano v. Alshaebi. Here are the facts of that case,…

Read More Bodega Cat-Attack Suit Dismissed
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In Gervais v. Laino, plaintiff sought to recover for injuries inflicted by defendant’s dog.  The court held that plaintiff’s complaint should have been dismissed. Plaintiff stated that while walking in Central Park, she saw the dog, whose hind paw was caught in a fence and who was wailing in pain.  The parties apparently disputed whether…

Read More The Case of the Ungrateful Dog
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In Hall v. United Founders, Ltd., a dog bite case, the Appellate Division, First Department reversed a summary judgment for defendant dismissing plaintiff’s complaint. Plaintiff sued after being attacked by a dog being dept by a construction site night watchman. Defendant United Founders, a general contractor, was constructing buildings on two adjacent properties.  It hired…

Read More Dog Bite Case Continues; Issue of Fact Existed as to Awareness of Offending Dog’s Vicious Propensities
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In Doerr v. Goldsmith, the First Department recently allowed plaintiff’s injury claim, arising from an animal encounter, to proceed on a theory of negligence. In sum, the court held that the focus (at least in cases where an allegation of “vicious propensity” is not advanced) is on the dog’s humans, rather than the dog. Plaintiff…

Read More Court Allows Negligence Claim Against Dog’s Owner to Continue
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In Matter of Allstate Insurance Co. v. Reyes, the Appellate Division, Second Department addressed the “ownership, maintenance or use” requirement necessary to trigger supplementary uninsured/underinsured motorist (SUM) coverage in connection with a car-related injury. Plaintiff was injured while passing a vehicle when a rottweiler dog “extended its head from inside the vehicle and bit her…

Read More Car Dog Bite Fails to Trigger SUM Coverage
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In the recent decision of Newsome v. County of Suffolk, the Appellate Division, Second Department, considered the “professional judgment rule” in the context of a negligence claim arising from a police dog bite. Plaintiff, a custodian, was bitten by a “dog employed by the canine unit of the Suffolk County Police Department” while at a…

Read More Police Dog Bite Case Continues
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Yes, you read that right. The Court of Appeals recently indicated, in Hastings v. Sauve, an intention to chip away at the “vicious propensity” rule that has traditionally been applied to lawsuits arising from animal-related injuries. While driving on Route 53 in the Town of Bangor in Franklin County, Karen Hastings hit a cow with her…

Read More NY Court of Appeals: Plaintiffs May Proceed On Negligence Theory To Seek Damages For Injuries Caused By Wandering Livestock
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While “running and playing” with other dogs, defendants’ 50-pound Labrador Retriever, Delilah, knocked plaintiff down from behind, causing serious injuries. The Appellate Division, Third Department last week in Bloom v. Van Lenten dismissed plaintiff’s lawsuit. The lower court allowed plaintiff’s strict liability claim to survive, finding questions of fact as to whether Delilah had “vicious propensities of…

Read More Playful Dog Exhibited “Normal Canine Behavior”, Not “Vicious Propensities”
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Plaintiff was injured after her son-in-law’s dog knocked her down.  Supreme Court (Kings Cty.) denied defendant’s, and granted plaintiff’s, respective motions for summary judgment.   (See Bannout v. McDaniels, 9920/09 (NYLJ 1202479668419, at *1)). The court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment – which was premised on plaintiff’s failure to offer evidence that an “insufficient handrail” proximately…

Read More Bad Dog! Summary Judgment for Woman Knocked Down by Overenthusiastic Pooch
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