Jonathan Lindfield, instructed by Judith Blades at Dolmans, has successfully defended Cardiff Dogs Home (“CDH”), which is operated by Cardiff Council, against an action brought against it pursuant to the Animals Act 1971 and in common law negligence.
The claim arose after a 7-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier rescue dog (called Champ), who was being walked by a volunteer, suddenly and without warning violently attacked the Claimant’s dog (also a Staffie, but a puppy) when the two dogs were allowed to interact with one another. As a consequence of the fight, and in attempting to separate them, the Claimant claimed that his hand and wrist were crushed and trapped in the dog leads, resulting in injuries to his hand and wrist.
Following a one-day trial in Cardiff County Court, and despite the Judge accepting that the volunteer breached the home’s strict “Golden Rule” (that no dog interactions should ever occur whilst out on walks), the Judge found no negligence, no foreseeability of harm, and no liability under the Act. Further, the Claimant accepted at trial that they had in fact punched Champ several times in attempting to separate the dogs, which the Judge found to be the true likely cause of the injury sustained.
The key findings were:
- The dog had never behaved in this way before and did not possess any aggressive characteristics
- Even if he did, CDH had no knowledge that he did
- CDH’s initial and ongoing assessments of Champ proved him to be fine to be walked, fine to be walked by volunteers, and that he had been walked successfully without issue some 150 times before this incident.
- There was a material difference between CDH’s own internal policy and the standard of care to be applied in negligence. With no previous behaviour or any indication that Champ might act that way in being allowed to interact with another dog, there was no reasonable foreseeability of harm, such that no negligent liability could arise (following the reasoning in Whippey v Jones).
You can read the full case summary here.
Jonathan drafted the Defence in this claim, advised in conference, and represented the Defendant at trial, drawing on his expertise in animal-related claims to deliver a successful result for his client.
Jonathan is an experienced, sought-after, specialist personal injury barrister, whose practice encompasses all aspects of personal injury litigation. Jonathan is comfortable dealing with the whole spectrum of personal injury work, and his particular interests and specialisms include claims under the Highways Act, employers’ liability claims, and claims involving animals. Find out more about Jonathan here