Court Opinion

ID: 9524220
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 02:50:42.394907+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:09:06.921321
License: Public Domain

WILLIAM A. BABLITCH, J.
(dissenting). The majority concludes that a part-time employee of a dog kennel whose only duties with respect to the dog were letting the dog out of the kennel in order to clean the kennel and giving the dog water is a "keeper" of the dog *273and therefore not entitled to the benefits of the strict liability statute. I conclude that a keeper of the dog within the meaning of the statute is one who cares for it the way an owner would, including providing it with shelter, care and sustenance. Given the very limited nature of Cheryl Armstrong's duties with respect to the dog, I must respectfully dissent with the majority's conclusion.
Black's Law Dictionary 868 (6th ed. 1990) defines a "keeper of dog" as "[a] harborer of a dog. Any person, other than owner, harboring or having in his possession any dog. One who, either with or without owner's permission, undertakes to manage, control, or care for it as dog owners in general are accustomed to do." To "harbor" is: "To afford lodging to, to shelter, or to give a refuge to." Id. at 717 (citations omitted).
In Hagenau v. Millard, 182 Wis. 544 (1924), this court addressed the same issue that we address in the present case: what is a "keeper of dogs?" We determined that whether or not a person is a keeper depends upon the peculiar facts and circumstances of each individual case. Id. at 547. We further reasoned that:
To be a keeper of a dog one must harbor the animal, and the word "harbor" in its meaning signifies protection; and it has been held that the keeper is one who treats the dog as living at his house and who undertakes to control his action; "but the casual presence of an animal, or his presence if not so treated, does not constitute him such owner or keeper."
Id. at 547 (citations omitted). In Hagenau, the court held that the defendants were not keepers of the dog because there was no evidence that "they furnished them with shelter, protection, or food, or that they exercised control over the dogs." Id. at 548. There was *274also no showing that "these dogs were so attached to Millard and his wife [the defendants] as to follow them upon the public streets or highways, or that the dogs were the constant companions of the Millards ...." Id. at 549. See also Janssen v. Voss, 189 Wis. 222, 207 N.W. 279 (1926); Koetting v. Conroy, 223 Wis. 550, 552, 270 N.W. 625 (1937) (concluding that defendant was a keeper when the dog lived in his house and was fed from his table).
More recently, in Pattermann v. Pattermann, 173 Wis. 2d 143, 149-50, 496 N.W.2d 613 (Ct. App. 1992), the defendant allowed her son to place his dog in the side entryway of her home while she and several other family members prepared to depart for a family reunion. A short time later, the dog leapt up and bit the face of the plaintiff, the fiancee of another of the defendant's sons. The circuit court dismissed the plaintiffs actions, finding that the defendant was not a keeper or har-borer of the dog. In affirming, the court of appeals held that the conduct of the defendant in "[mjerely directing where the dog was to be placed for such a short time does not establish the custodial relationship necessary for a keeper." Id. at 150. The court stated:
Here, Mandy was temporarily in Sallie's home with Scott's family for about a half-hour before the accident occurred. The dog did not live there, and there is no evidence that Sallie fed or cared for the dog in any way.
The word "harbor" by its meaning signifies protection. Hagenau, 182 Wis. at 547, 195 N.W. at 719. "Harboring a dog" means something more than a meal of mercy to a stray dog or the casual presence of a dog on someone's premises. Harboring means to afford lodging, to shelter or to give refuge to a dog.
*275Id. at 150-51. The court of appeals found that a "strict construction" of the word harbor suggested that "Mandy's transient invasion of Sallie's home while the family finished preparations for their trip" was insufficient to trigger the statute.
Like Pattermann, the facts of the present case do not support a finding that Armstrong is a keeper of the Macks' dog. Armstrong described her functions at Thistlerose as performing general maintenance work, including cutting trees, laying cement, fixing dog kennels and rebuilding dog houses. In addition to being a handy person, Armstrong helped clean the dog runs at night. The only testimony elicited by the Macks as to her specific job duties was that she was a part-time employee working a couple of hours at night and every other weekend. When asked by her attorney what her functions were at Thistlerose, Armstrong described her duties as follows:
To do various chores with the dogs, sometimes doing a shift on weekends. When there wasn't help available I'd fill in on weekends. I do night chores mostly, work by myself, and I did general maintenance from cutting down 50-foot pine trees to laying cement to fixing dog kennels to rebuilding dog houses.
Armstrong also described how she cleaned the kennels at Thistlerose:
Well, if you were going to clean the inside kennels, you'd let the dogs out and you dump out the water, and you could clean it two ways. You could clean up whatever mess was in there, you could clean it with a pressure cleaner, or you could clean it with a bucket and water and soap. You squeegee it dry, you let the dog back in, and then you do the same thing to the outside.
*276Armstrong's only involvement with the dogs was to move them in and out of the kennels and outdoor runs so that she could clean their pens. In order to perform these job duties, Armstrong would call the dogs in from the outdoor runs, and, if calling failed, she would use treats to lure them inside. Although calling their names and using treats usually worked, on rare occasions, if a dog refused to come in, she was instructed to enter the outside run with a board in front of her to coax the dog through the opening.
There is no evidence presented that Armstrong had any voice in decisions regarding the care or custody of kennel dogs. Armstrong lacked any significant dog-related responsibilities, such as feeding, grooming, or exercising the dogs. Like the defendant's conduct in Pattermann, Armstrong's sole conduct with regard to the dogs at the kennel consisted of merely moving the dogs from their pens to an outdoor run and back again so she could clean up "messes" in the pens.
A keeper of a dog within the meaning of the statute is one who cares for it the way an owner would, treating it as living in his or her household, and providing it with shelter, care and sustenance. Here, there is no evidence in the record that Armstrong, as a part-time employee of a kennel, did any of that.
Based upon a careful reading of the record in this case, I conclude that Armstrong is not a "keeper" of the Macks' dog within the meaning of Wis. Stat. § 174.001(5). Therefore, I would hold the Macks strictly liable to Armstrong under the statute, subject to comparative negligence. Accordingly, I would not reach the other issues presented.
*277I am authorized to state that Chief Justice Roland B. Day and Justice Ann Walsh Bradley join in this dissent.