Personal Injury Law

Dog Owner Can Be Liable for Injuries Caused by Violation of “Leash Law”

In last month’s decision by the in Petrone v. Fernandez, 2008 WL 2669298, a Queens mail carrier injured her finger while jumping feet-first into her vehicle to avoid a rampaging Rottweiler. Plaintiff Melanie Petrone was making her rounds on the morning of May 9, 2005, when she observed an unleashed dog on the defendants’ lawn within several feet of her. She decided to “flag” the house, meaning that mail would not be delivered so long as an unleashed dog was present. Ms. Petrone turned and began to walk back to her mail vehicle. She then noticed that the dog had begun chasing her and had entered the street behind her. Ms. Petrone, slowed by arthritis, began to run to her vehicle. To elude the dog, Petrone jumped feet-first through the open window of her vehicle, allegedly sustaining an injury to her finger.

Full post as published by Legal Blog on August 14, 2008 (boomark / email).