I have a pet theory that the period from 28 February 1991 to 10 September 2001 was “history’s long weekend”. But despite the general laid-back feel of the era, some serious questions needed answering. The Baha Men, for instance, asked –
Who let the dogs out?
Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof
Who let the dogs out?
Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof
Who let the dogs out?
Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof
Who let the dogs out?
We now know the answer. And thanks to the Supreme Court of Vermont, we also know where the fault lay.
On 15 January 2016 the Flores family went to the home of the Pearo family. The Pearos has invited the Flores to let themselves in and left the door unlocked. As the Flores’ son opened the door, the Pearos’ three dogs (later claimed to be pit bulls) bolted from the house. The dogs ran up to passerby Eric Gross. They attacked his dog and grabbed the man’s arm, dislocating his shoulder.
Gross commenced proceedings in the Vermont Superior Court, alleging that the Pearos’ landlord and the Flores’ had negligently failed to control or restrain the dogs. The defendants sought summary dismissal of the case which was granted. Gross appealed.
The key question on appeal was whether either defendant owed a duty of care to protect third parties off the premises from harm caused by the Pearos’ dogs. The Supreme Court of Vermont said no. The landlord had a duty to
… take reasonable steps to protect persons outside the land from injuries caused by a tenant’s dog if the landlord knew or had reason to know at the time of entering the lease that the dog in question posed an unreasonable risk of harm to such persons. … By permitting a tenant to keep a dog that the landlord knows to be vicious, the landlord could be viewed as having created the risk that led to the third person’s injuries. … Requiring the landlord to exercise due care to protect the public in such a situation is consistent with the general duty of care owed to the public by a landowner who personally carries on unreasonably dangerous activities on his or her land.
The plaintiffs did not offer evidence that the landlord knew or should have known of a vicious tendency in the dogs.
The court accepted for the sake of argument that the Flores’ were the dogs’ keepers at the relevant time. Vermont law considered keepers to face the same standard of care as owners of dogs. That is, they are not liable for injuries to persons unless they have some reason to know the animal is a probable source of danger. When an owner or keeper knows a dog is dangerous, they must “exercise reasonable control and restraint” of the
dog to avoid injury to others. The case against the Flores’ failed for the same reason as the case against the landlord: they did not know the dogs were a danger to anyone.
Interestingly, the court took time to consider pit bulls are an inherently dangerous breed, stating that
this Court has never held that a dog’s breed alone is sufficient to put its owners or others on notice that it poses an unreasonable risk of harm, or that pit bulls or other breeds are dangerous per se. In Vermont, liability in dog-bite cases has always depended on the propensities of the individual animal.
Stephen the Lawyer 