New York should join the majority of other states and allow plaintiffs injured by pets that do not show vicious propensities to bring negligence claims against their owners, a state appeals court said in a signed decision.
Affirming a lower court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a man who was knocked on his back by a bike rack being dragged by a spooked dog running down a Manhattan street, a unanimous panel of the Appellate Division, First Department, ruled March 16 that were it not bound by past Court of Appeals decisions, it would allow the plaintiff to pursue a negligence claim.
