The New York Court of Appeals last week granted leave to appeal in Bard v. Jahnke, which will resolve a conflict between the Appellate Division Departments on whether an "enhanced duty" exists under certain circumstances (i.e., where a dog’s playfulness is known to be a problem to visitors) to hold an owner of a domestic animal liable based on negligence for injuries that his or her domestic animal caused the victim (see Decision List here).  The victim in Bard was pinned against a stall in a barn in which he was working.  Besides holding that Supreme Court correctly granted the defendants’  — the barn owner and the person who subcontracted work to the victim — summary judgment motion based on the lack of evidence demonstrating the bull’s vicious propensities, the Court refused to adopt the "enhanced duty" rule that the First and Second Appellate Departments have adopted under certain limited circumstances.  The Court merely looked to whether the bull had previously exhibited vicious behavior and rejected the plaintiff’s argument that a court should take judicial notice of the ferocity of certain types of domestic animals.

New York Civil Law will follow this appeal as it works through the Court.