mike.m-@obra.org

Scott Powell wrote:

"My family and I have dogs. And we have fencing. And we try to keep our

dogs off of Skyline for their safety and the safety of others. But if they

happen to get out, through a series of unfortunate occances, and knock a

rider off of their bike, are you going to reasonably say that me or my dog

ought to be put down?"



I do not care much one way or another about whether the dog is killed.

Actually I wouldn't care much if every loose dog was shot on sight. After

all, dogs are hardly an endangered species. I do recognize that my opinion

is different from many people's.



I would, however, say that you should be responsible for damages to someone

injured if your dog got out. The fact that it is difficult to restrain the

dog inside the property is not material. Discussions about the quality of

your neighbors fencing are pointless. They need a kennel. Dogs need to be

restrained always, not just most of the time.



An accident is "an unexpected happening causing loss or injury which is not

due to any fault or misconduct on the part of the person injured but for

which legal relief may be sought". Intent matters not.



Mike Murray