Opinion ID: 1670605
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Historical Basis for Liability Under Article 2321

Text: This is a case in which a page of history is worth a volume of logic. Holmes, J. in N. Y. Trust Co. v. Eisner, 256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921). See B. Cardozo, The Nature of the Judicial Process 55 (1921). Article 2321 of the Civil Code, in pertinent part, provides only that [t]he owner of an animal is answerable for the damage he has caused.... To interpret the article literally and in isolation from the related code articles, however, would be to impose absolute liability, a consequence this court emphatically has reserved for instances in which damage is done by wild animals. Holland v. Buckley, 305 So.2d 113, 119 n. 4 (La. 1974); Briley v. Mitchell, 238 La. 551, 115 So.2d 851 (1959); Vredenburg v. Behan, 33 La.Ann. 627 (1881). See also Granger v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 266 So.2d 526 (La.App. 3d Cir.1972); Rolen v. Maryland Casualty Co., 240 So.2d 42 (La.App. 2d Cir.1970), writ denied, 256 La. 1149, 241 So.2d 252 (1972); Marsh v. Snyder, 113 So.2d 5 (Orl. App.1959). On the other hand, to assert without authoritative jurisprudential or doctrinal basis that the article requires proof of an aggressive act or inherent danger would initiate an anomalous case law development similar to that overruled by the court in Holland v. Buckley. 305 So.2d at 120. Alternatively, to assume, without examining the chronological record, that proof of the creation of an unreasonable risk by the animal involved is required under the article would be to yield to predilection and possibly overlook a historical basis for a distinction between article 2321 and other related code provisions.