“A ‘dog law’ decision in the Massachusetts Appeals Court today recognized the state’s ban on breed-specific legislation and refused to recognize a landlord duty to protect a passing bicyclist from a tenant’s pit bull. In affirming the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, the court recited the plaintiff’s facts. Plaintiff-bicyclist Creatini had his dog on a leash as he passed the unfenced yard of tenant Mills, owned by defendant-landlord McHugh. Mills’s pit bull terrier left the yard, gave chase, and attacked the plaintiff’s dog. The plaintiff fell from his bike and was injured – in the fall, not directly by the pit, though no word on how the plaintiff’s dog fared. McHugh knew that Mills kept the pit bull and had told him to get rid of the dog …” (more)
[Richard Peltz-Steele, The Savory Tort, 27 January]
First posted 2021-01-28 13:32:55
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