AMICUS AI
Citation Codes
Equivalent Citations
citation codes
Attorney(S)
Judges
Are you a practicing lawyer?
Enhance your digital presence and reach by creating a Casemine profile.
Upload pleading to use the new AI search
Cites
Cited by
Citation Codes
Equivalent Citations
citation codes
Attorney(S)
Judges

KATHY ANDERSON, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. ANDREW CARDUNER, ET AL., DEFENDANTS-RESPONDENTS, THOMAS E. MEHRTENS AND HOPE DEBRA, DEFENDANT.

The action should not have been dismissed as against defendant owner of the dog, which allegedly injured plaintiff by poking its snout in her eye while standing up on its hind-legs, in view of the owner's admitted knowledge of the dog's tendency to "rise up" to "greet" people. Whether such an injury was reasonably foreseeable from such behavior is an issue of fact that, if resolved in plaintiff's favor, would make the owner strictly liable for the dog's "vicious" propensity to rise up, assuming the dog in fact did rise up on this occasion, as alleged by plaintiff but denied by codefendant dog walker. "`A known tendency to attack others, even in playfulness, as in the case of the overly friendly large dog with a propensity for enthusiastic jumping up on visitors, will be enough to make the defendant liable for damages resulting from such an act.'" (Thirlwall v. Galanter, 66 Misc.2d 88, 90 [Leonard Sandler, J., quoting Prosser, Torts [3d ed], at 515; see also, Mitura v. Roy, 174 A.D.2d 1020 [4th Dept]; Lagoda v. Dorr, 28 A.D.2d 208, 209 [3rd Dept]). Although plaintiff failed to raise this argument before the motion court, we consider it on appeal since it is readily apparent upon the face of the record and could not have been avoided by the dog owner had it been brought to her attention (see, Chateau D'If Corp. v. City of New York, 219 A.D.2d 205, 209, lv denied 88 N.Y.2d 811).

The motion court correctly determined, based on uncontroverted evidence, that no issues of fact exist as to whether defendant dog owner negligently hired codefendant dog walker, whether the dog walker was an employee of the dog owner, or whether the dog owner's husband and codefendant was a co-owner of the dog. The motion court also correctly determined that dog-walking is not an inherently dangerous activity (see, Chainani v. Board of Educ., 87 N.Y.2d 370, 381).

Use AI to get other relevant cases.

Comments

ANDERSON v. CARDUNER
(Jan 23, 2001)