Waldman v. Sangiray
| Decision Date | 30 August 2016 |
| Parties | Jacqueline WALDMAN, Plaintiff, v. Engin G. SANGIRAY, Defendant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court |
Stephen C. Nappi, Esq., Goidel & Siegel, LLP, New York, for Plaintiff.
Alex M. Temple, Esq., Perez & Cariello, Uniondale, for Defendant.
"Barking and running around are what dogs do." So observed the Court of Appeals in Collier v. Zambito, 1 N.Y.3d 444, 775 N.Y.S.2d 205, 807 N.E.2d 254 (2004). Such behavior, consistent with normal canine activity, is not threatening or menacing and does not reflect a proclivity to act in a way that puts others at risk of harm. Id. But what about jumping up on people? As many puppy owners will attest, dogs are inclined to do that too. Is this type of behavior evidence of "a vicious" propensity sufficient to hold a dog owner strictly liable for any injury that might result? That is the issue in this motion for summary judgment brought by defendant, Engin Sangiray.
On the afternoon on June 8, 2012, Jacqueline Waldman, then 82 years old, was walking with her three year old grandson in her Hewlett Harbor neighborhood. During the course of her walk she reached Sangiray's property. What happened next is disputed, but the court will credit Waldman's version of the facts, as required, for purposes of determining Sangiray's summary judgment motion. See William J. Jenack Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers, Inc. v. Rabizadeh, 22 N.Y.3d 470, 475, 982 N.Y.S.2d 813, 5 N.E.3d 976 (2013) ().
When Waldman and her grandson passed Sangiray's home, her grandson took one step up onto a "little slope" onto Sangiray's property. Waldman 7/30/14 Deposition Transcript, p. 40. Waldman "put [her] foot on Sangiray's grass" because she "wanted to pull" her grandson off the grass. Id., pp. 37, 38. Mrs. Waldman does not recall hearing any growling, barking, or the jangling of a dog collar before Louie, Sangiray's two-year-old Siberian Husky, came from her right side and "hit" her by placing his paws on both her shoulders. Waldman threw her grandson into some bushes to protect him. Louie's hit brought Waldman down to the grass on her knees. She stated that she "tried to roll over and [Louie] kept hitting [her]." Id., p. 47. She alleges that Louie rolled her over onto her back with his front paws and then remained in contact with her for an entire hour, recalling, "every time I got up he threw me more." Id., p. 56. At some point during the incident, Waldman claims Louie bit her and that she felt Louie's mouth close around her arm. Id., pp. 48, 56. Waldman was eventually rescued by a passing golfer and Sangiray's son, who took the dog away. Waldman allegedly sustained several injuries, including inflamed, ruptured and lacerated tendons
in her hand and wrist, requiring surgery, and facial cuts.
There is no evidence in the record that Louie was anything but a friendly, rambunctious family pet, who was mainly kept outside of the home and barked often (Sangiray no longer owns Louie). Louie never had an incident where he growled, bared his teeth, bit, or lunged at anyone. Louie was contained in the Sangiray's yard by an electronic fence, although he would occasionally be restrained by a 20–foot chain affixed to his dog house when he would dig up the backyard. Louie was not chained on the day of the incident.
Louie did have a habit, however, of jumping up on people—at least his owners—to greet them. Sangiray testified that Louie liked to jump on people to get their attention, "being the friendly dog that he is." Sangiray 9/22/14 Deposition Transcript, p. 83. Sangiray testified that he never observed Louie jumping on strangers, but admitted that he would jump on his in-laws. He could not recall if Louie would jump on his children's friends when they came to the house. Nonetheless, from Sangiray's testimony, it would be fair for a jury to conclude that Louie is a friendly jumper. There is no evidence, however, that Louie ever knocked anyone to the ground by jumping on them.
Contrary to popular belief, a dog is not "entitled to one free bite" in the State of New York. Instead, for at least 200 years the common law rule in New York has been that the owner of a domestic animal, such as a dog, who either knows or should have known of the animal's vicious propensities will be held liable for the harm caused by the animal as a result of those propensities. Collier v. Zambito, 1 N.Y.3d 444, 775 N.Y.S.2d 205, 807 N.E.2d 254 (2004) ; Vrooman v. Lawyer, 13 Johns. 339 (1816). Once such knowledge is established, the dog owner faces strict liability. Bard v. Jahnke, 6 N.Y.3d 592, 597, 815 N.Y.S.2d 16, 848 N.E.2d 463 (2006).
The rationale for the rule has been explained as follows: one who keeps a dog with dangerous propensities introduces an unusual danger to the community without any positive counterbalance. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 509. As a result, even if one has exercised the utmost care to prevent harm to another by their dog, liability is imposed for any injury inflicted consistent with the known dangerous propensity. There is zero tolerance in this regard. The risk of injury from a dog known to have a propensity for causing such an injury is a risk society has deemed unacceptable in all cases.
"Dangerous" propensities as used above is a more apt description of the state of the law than "vicious" propensities, the term historically used in caselaw. This is because "vicious propensities" has been defined to include the "propensity to do any act that might endanger the safety of persons and property of others in a given situation." Collier v. Zambito, 1 N.Y.3d at 446, 775 N.Y.S.2d 205, 807 N.E.2d 254, quoting Dickson v. McCoy, 39 N.Y. 400, 403 (1868). As further explained in Collier, an animal that behaves in a manner that would not necessarily be considered violent or ferocious, but nevertheless reflects a proclivity to act in a way that puts others art risk of harm, can be found to have "vicious" propensities.
Which brings us to Louie. The evidence reflects that prior to the incident in question, Louie was not vicious—to the contrary he was a friendly, happy dog who loved people. There is no evidence to support the proposition that Sangiray knew or should have known that Louie would bite anyone. But Louie had a fault: he expressed his happiness and excitement when greeting people by jumping on them, a fault not uncommon in young dogs, but a fault nonetheless. Indeed, hundreds, if not thousands, of websites provide instruction on how to train a dog not to jump on people, and a Google search reflects the popularity of the subject. See e.g., How to Stop a Siberian Husky from Jumping, http:// pets.thenest.com/stop–siberian–husky–jumping–5400.html.
Dogs are trained not to jump on people for several reasons, but one is that large and medium-sized dogs (like Siberian Huskies) can knock people over and hurt them in...
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