Jean owns five acres of land in an area of single-family homes on mostly one-acr

Question

Jean owns five acres of land in an area of single-family homes on mostly one-acre plots. Jean’s property contains her house and three outbuildings. Among the animals housed in the outbuildings are Kennel, a dog, and Louis, a tiger. Mary, a neighbor, is jogging past Jean’s property. Under what circumstance is Jean strictly liable if Kennel bites Mary? Under what circumstance is Jean strictly liable if Louis bites Mary? If strict liability is not available what must Mary show for Jean to be liable for any injury?  

Explanation / Answer

Owning a wild animal makes the owner strictly liable for any harm which that wild animal inflicts. Such animals if released or if they escape on their own, these events may pose a serious risk of harm to anyone in the area. This is the basis for applying the strict liability doctrine in such cases. So in the given problem, Jean would be liable if Louis bites Mary under almost any set of circumstances, be it owing to its escape or released by any third party or Jean forgetting to lock the animal house and Mary jogging past the property. If one owns domesticated animals, the owners become the sole liable party for harm caused by those animals if the owners knew or rather should already know the dangers those animals pose to the others. Also in some states, there is a "one bite" rule with which the owner can get away with liability only if the owner was unaware of such an event happening or unaware of dog's dangerous propensity. Depends upon if the state is a strict liability state or not.

But for the tigers, there is nothing as strict liability state. The owners are held responsible and liable in every case possible whenever their domestic animal is involved. The thinking is that you are assuming a great responsibility by harboring a wild animal; therefore, whenever it hurts someone, you are liable even if you were exceptionally careful.

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