Dahe Daily reporter Li Xiaobo correspondent Xun Yatong Shen Wenjuan
Seeing that the stray cats in the community were very pitiful, out of pity to occasionally feed, did not think, the kitten made a big mistake, scratched the neighbor, the neighbor took the feeder and the property company to court. Recently, the Luoyang Old Town People's Court heard the tort liability dispute case, and the neighbor sued the feeder and the property for compensation, can the court support it?
Stray cats cause trouble and scratch people, feeders and property companies are defendants
Ms. Liu and Ms. Zhang are neighbors of the same building living in a community in the old town of Luoyang City, and a property is the property management company of the community. Stray cats are often found in this community, and Ms. Zhang and other residents of the community occasionally feed stray cats. In June 2021, the plaintiff, Ms. Liu, was scratched by a stray cat in the residential building and injured her left calf. On the same day, Ms. Liu went to the hospital for treatment, spending a total of 1829.5 yuan in medical expenses.
Because of the unsuccessful claim for compensation, Ms. Liu sued Ms. Zhang and the property company, who often fed stray cats, to the old city court, demanding payment of medical expenses, transportation costs, printing costs and case acceptance fees.
Ms. Liu complained that Ms. Zhang should be held responsible for frequently feeding stray cats, causing stray cats in the community to gather, and that the property should also be liable for the failure to clean up the stray cats in a timely manner, resulting in incidents of stray cats injuring people. Ms. Zhang argued that feeding individual stray cats only occasionally did not constitute a breeding and management relationship for stray cats, and it was not directly related to the gathering of stray cats in the community. The property argued that it had posted the Pet Management Regulations in the community, advised and reminded the owners, and disciplined stray pets.
The court ordered the property company to bear the liability for compensation
Scratched by stray cats, are well-meaning feeders and property liable?
The Old Town People's Court ruled that the defendant, a property company, compensated the plaintiff Ms. Liu for various losses totaling 1929.5 yuan, and rejected the other litigation claims of the plaintiff Ms. Liu.
The presiding judge of the case said that if the animals raised caused harm to others, the animal keeper or manager should bear the tort liability. Animal keeper refers to the owner of the animal, that is, the person who enjoys the right to possess, use, benefit from and dispose of the animal; the animal manager refers to the person who actually controls and regulates the animal. This case is an tort dispute caused by the damage caused by the animal in the community, and the core issue lies in the determination of the responsible entity, and the premise of the determination of the responsible entity is to determine the owner or manager of the animal.
Regarding Ms. Liu's claim that the defendant Ms. Zhang was the breeder and manager of the stray cat involved in the case, the evidence provided by Ms. Liu was insufficient to prove the claim, and the defendant Ms. Zhang's feeding of the stray cat involved in the case did not mean that she had the right to possess or control the stray cat involved in the case, nor did it constitute breeding or management in the legal sense, so the old city court did not support the lawsuit in accordance with the law.
As the property manager of Ms. Liu's community, the property company should fulfill its obligations of management and safety protection to the community, and there are stray cats in the community involved, because the animals have immeasurable behavior, that is, there is a danger to the lives, health and property of others, so it should be determined that the property has the necessary control obligations for the stray animals in the community.
Ms. Liu was scratched by a stray cat in the community, and the property as the manager only posted the "Pet Management Regulations" in the community, which could not prove that she fulfilled her obligation to discipline the stray animals in the community, and should bear the corresponding compensation liability according to law.
Extended Reminder:
At present, there are more and more caring people who pay attention to the survival status of stray cats, and some well-meaning residents will put cat food or leftovers at designated points to provide survival protection for stray animals, but this move is also easy to cause stray animals to gather, further bring environmental problems such as health, and cause the risk of injury, at the same time, they will also put themselves in disputes, and should be cautious.
In this regard, the judge reminded that if you want to protect these stray cats and dogs, you should take shelter measures to prevent them from wandering in the outside world, and at the same time, you can choose to adopt stray cats or directly fund the stray rescue center organization to express love, and advocate sterilization measures to reduce the emergence of more stray animals. If you are injured by an animal, you should take photos of the animal, the injury, the surrounding environment, etc. for evidence at the first time, leave the contact information of the witness, and understand the source of the animal from the surrounding masses, and at the same time time time, timely collect monitoring and fix evidence, so as to protect their legitimate rights according to law.
Source: Dahe News Editor: Cheng Feihu