Location: Buffalo, NY
Our client, a part-time dog walker, was hired by a small local sole proprietorship to walk a dog while its owner was away. Although she had previously visited the home once with both the company owner and the dog owner, this was her first time entering the home and handling the dog alone.
Shortly after arriving, the dog—without any provocation—lunged at her and bit her on the face and wrist. The dog’s owner lived in a rental home owned by her parents. While a dangerous dog hearing had already taken place before we were retained, there was no documented evidence of prior vicious behavior at that time, and the dog owner denied any prior incidents.
Upon taking the case, our firm launched a thorough investigation and located a witness familiar with the dog. The witness reported prior concerning behavior, including growling and lunging, which supported a key element of New York dog bite law: proof that the owner and/or landlord knew of the dog’s vicious propensities.
Despite presenting this evidence to the homeowner’s liability insurance carrier, they refused to make an offer. As a result, we filed a lawsuit against both the dog owner and her landlord parents, asserting that both had prior knowledge of the dog’s dangerous tendencies.
During depositions, the dog owner admitted that the dog had previously lunged, growled, and exhibited anxiety, and that she feared the dog might bite someone one day. Although the landlord parents denied knowledge of the dog’s behavior, we were able to establish that they had frequent exposure to the dog—supporting our theory that they should have known about its aggression.
We learned that while the dog owner had no applicable insurance, the landlord parents did. Leveraging their insurance coverage and the facts uncovered during litigation, we crafted a detailed demand and engaged in extensive negotiations. We obtained an offer but continued arduous negotiation and got the offer increased five times. Ultimately, we secured a settlement of $115,000 for our client.