CBA Record November-December 2022

Although most Cook County civil actions under section 16 of the Animal Control Act involve dogs, the perpetra tor can be any living creature whatso ever—even a mad vicious reptile—but not another human being. • The animal was vicious. It is not neces sary for the victim to prove any wrong ful conduct by the animal. • The owner was negligent. • The animal was involved in a prior similar or dissimilar event. Not Defenses Along the same lines, the following argu ments are not defenses: • Someone else was at fault for letting the animal loose. • The defendant was extremely careful and did everything possible to restrain Fido.

• Fido is nice, quiet, cute, and friendly. He loves all children, cats, dogs, and goldfish. • Fido never hurt anyone else. • Fido was just being playful and did not intend to harm the victim. Trial Frequently, only the victim and the animal are present at the scene of an animal lia bility incident. As a result, the plaintiff’s only eyewitness at trial is often the victim, and the defense’s only eyewitness at trial is the animal. Whatever the victim says on the issue of liability generally goes uncon tradicted. Insurance Nearly every homeowner’s and renter’s insurance policy cover claims of animal liability. So, if your client owns Fido, and

Fido injures someone, the client’s liability insurance company will typically defend him and pay any settlement or judgment. Similarly, if your client is the victim injured by Fido and Fido is owned by the victim’s good friend or relative, tell the client not to be concerned about suing the friend or relative. The claim typically will be covered by insurance. In fact, more than one-third of all homeowner liability insurance claims today are Animal Con trol Act cases.

Richard Lee Stavins, a shareholder at Rob bins DiMonte, Ltd. in Chicago, concentrates his practice on trial and appellate litigation. He is a 50-year CBA member and serves on the Editorial Board of the CBA Record.

CBA RECORD 29