Tort Law: Liability of Owners of Animals
To determine the scope of liability of owners of animals, it is important to first determine the legal classification of the animal in question. Animals can be classified as either wild or domestic. The Restatement of Torts 2d defines these two classes in §506 as the following:
- A wild animals as the term is used in this Restatement is an animal that is not by custom devoted to the service of mankind at the time and in the place in which it is kept.
- A domestic animal as that term is used in this Restatement is an animals that is by custom devoted to the service of mankind at the time in the place in which it is kept.
The restatement offers two comments to further clarify this definition.
a. The fact that a particular animal is kept for a socially valuable purpose does not prevent it from being a wild animal; the test is whether the animals are as a class recognized by custom as devoted to the service of mankind [common household pets including dogs and cats]. Thus rattlesnakes are wild animals although they are kept by scientists for the purpose of discovering antidotes for their bites.
b. An animal may be a wild animal in one place and a domestic animal in another. As a rule wild animals are dangerous unless effectively controlled and whatever value they have is not affected by their being kept under close and effective control. However, if a particular class of animal, bird or insect has been customarily recognized as devoted to the service of mankind, the fact that it is incapable of effective control does not affect its classification as a domestic animal. Thus, bees are not wild animals although it is impossible to confine them to the land on which their hives are situated.
General Rules:
The possessor of a wild animal or an abnormally dangerous domestic animal is subject to strict liability for the resulting harm caused by said animal §510 Restatement of Torts 2d.
The injury must be within the scope of the known behaviors of the animal, such that the owner of a bear will be liable for injuries caused by the bear, even if the owner has taken every reasonable precaution to prevent such injury, but if the bear escapes and is hit by the reasonably prudent operator of an automobile in the absence of negligence in its custody the owner is not strictly liable for injuries sustained by driver. Restatement of Torts 2d.
Common exceptions to strict liability as found in Restatement 2d of Torts:
§ 511 Liability to Trespassers
- A possessor of land is not subject to strict liability to one who intentionally or negligently trespasses upon the land, for harm done to him by a wild animal or an abnormally dangerous domestic animal that the possessor keeps on the land, even though the trespasser has no reason to know that the animal is kept there.
§ 513 Liability to Licensees and Invitees
- The possessor of a wild animal or an abnormally dangerous domestic animal who keeps it upon land in his possession, is subject to strict liability to persons coming upon the land in the exercise of a privilege whether derived from his consent to their entry or otherwise.
§ 523 Assumption of Risk
- The plaintiff’s assumption of the risk of harm from an abnormally dangerous activity bars his recovery for the harm.
§ 516 Watchdogs
- A possessor of land or chattels is privileged to employ a dog or other animal, for the purpose of protecting his possession of land or chattels from intrusion, to the same extent that he is privileged to use a mechanical protective device for those purposes.
§ 517 Animals Kept in Pursuance of a Public Duty
- The rules as to strict liability for dangerous animals do not apply when the possession of the animal is in pursuance of a duty imposed upon the possessor as a public officer or employee or as a common carrier.
§ 518 Liability for Harm Done by Domestic Animals That Are Not Abnormally Dangerous
- Except for animal trespass, one who possesses or harbors a domestic animal that he does not know or have reason to know to be abnormally dangerous, is subject to liability for harm done by the animal if, but only if, (a) he intentionally causes the animal to do the harm, or (b) he is negligent in failing to prevent the harm.
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