Court Opinion

ID: 9640651
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:11:04.581076+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:31.582545
License: Public Domain

Steele Hays, Justice, dissenting. The majority summarily concludes that “the owner of a domestic cat may permit his cat to run at large unless it has shown a propensity toward violence, or unless an ordinance or statute provides otherwise.” Because I believe there are circumstances under which an owner may be liable for failure to exercise ordinary care to control or restrain a domestic animal, I disagree with the majority’s decision. Peter Van Houten (defendant below) has appealed the trial court’s decision denying his motion for directed verdict and his motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the issue of ordinary negligence. An appeal from the denial of a motion for a directed verdict or jnov is a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, and the test for determining' the sufficiency of the evidence is whether there is substantial evidence to support the verdict. Cleveland v. State, 315 Ark. 91, 865 S.W.2d 285 (1993). Substantial evidence is that evidence which is forceful enough to compel a conclusion, one way or the other, beyond suspicion or conjecture. Id. In determining whether substantial evidence exists, we review the evidence in a light most favorable to the appellee. Coleman v. State, 314 Ark. 143, 860 S.W.2d 747 (1993). I also except to the assertion of the majority that, because the plaintiff (appellee) did not cross appeal from the directed verdict on the issue of strict liability, the law of the case is the plaintiff failed to prove the cat had a propensity toward violence. There was no onus on appellee to cross appeal. “A cross appeal is required only when the appellee seeks affirmative relief that he failed to obtain in the trial court, not when he won the case below and merely asks that the judgment be affirmed.” Moose v. Gregory, 267 Ark. 86, 590 S.W.2d 662 (1979). The trial court’s directed verdict addressed only the claim of strict liability, not the claim of negligence, and having prevailed on that theory the appellee asks only that the judgment be affirmed. Indeed, in order for a person injured by a domestic pet to recover from the pet’s owner without the necessity of proving the owner’s negligence, he must prove that the animal had vicious tendencies or propensities. Bradley v. Hendricks, 251 Ark. 733, 474 S.W.2d 677 (1972); Hamby v. Haskins, 275 Ark. 385, 630 S.W.2d 37 (1982). However, to make a prima facie case of negligence, the plaintiff need only show that under the circumstances the defendant failed to exercise ordinary care to control or restrain. Rickrode v. Wistinghausen, 340 N.W.2d 83 (Mich. App. 1983); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 518 (1977); Cheryl Bailey, Annotation, Liability—Injury Caused by Cat, 68 A.L.R.4th 823, § 2a (1989). Restatement (Second) of Torts § 518 (1977), comment h, states that an owner of a domestic animal is required to realize that even ordinarily gentle animals are likely to be dangerous under particular circumstances. Further, comment k provides that there may be circumstances under which it will be negligent to permit an animal to run at large, even though it is of a kind customarily allowed to do so and under other circumstances there would be no negligence. We have defined negligence as the failure to do something that a reasonably careful person would do; a negligent act arises from a situation where an ordinarily prudent person in the same situation would foresee such an appreciable risk of harm to others that he would not act or at least would act in a more careful manner. White River Rural Water Dist. v. Moon, 310 Ark. 624, 839 S.W.2d 211 (1992). Further, it is not necessary to foresee a particular injury, but only to foresee that the general act or omission is likely to cause injury. Bolstad v. Pergeson, 305 Ark. 163, 806 S.W.2d 377 (1991). Applying the substantial evidence standard to the facts of this instant case, I find the evidence of negligence was more than substantial. Mr. Van Houten agreed that “when a tomcat is in his mating cycle that they get a little hostile sometimes.” He was aware that his cat roamed around and had been seen “spraying” in Mr. Pritchard’s garage/upholstery shop. Mr. Van Houten knew the Pritchards had a female cat that they allowed to enter through their garage. Nevertheless, Mr. Van Houten left his cat outside for the weekend to fend for itself without food or water. Once again, Mr. Pritchard discovered the cat in his garage. As Mr. Pritchard was attempting to remove the cat, the cat bit him and would not let go. Mr. Pritchard testified that the cat held on and had to be slung loose. It was not a case of the cat biting simply to escape, it had to be forcibly disengaged. Further, Mr. Van Houten acknowledged that while he was aware his cat was roaming the neighborhood and being a nuisance to others, he did not care and it was his common practice to allow the cat to run at large when he and his wife went to the lake for the weekend. It is significant that Mr. Van Houten did not see to it that his cat was vaccinated, a clear violation of Ark. Code Ann. § 20-19-202 (1987). Although he first stated the cat’s vaccinations were current, Mr. Van Houten admitted the cat had only been vaccinated years ago as a kitten. It is also material that the subdivision’s bill of assurance provides: “All household pets on the property shall be kept on a leash at all times when they are outside of a residence constructed on a lot.” Finally, upon returning from the doctor’s office the day after he was bitten, Mr. Pritchard informed Mr. Van Houten the cat needed to be quarantined for ten days. Although the cat was sitting in the window at that time, Mr. Van Houten turned the cat loose that evening and it has not been seen since. The evidence, as I view it, was entirely sufficient to support the jury’s conclusion that Mr. Van Houten failed to exercise ordinary care. Holt, C.J., joins in this dissent.