Town has no liability for property damage caused by stray dog
Published 05/24/07

With the Supreme Court's amendment of its procedural rules calling for mandatory appeals the variety of opinions that the court has issued has expanded greatly. One of the more unique questions the court was asked to rule upon this year is whether a town can be held liable for property damage caused by a stray dog. In the case of Cui v. Barrington Police Department (decided May 15, 2007), the Supreme Court held the Town faced no such liability.

In the Cui case, a homeowner allegedly made repeated complaints to the Town of Barrington that a stray dog was living on or roaming through his property. At one point, the dog chewed on his porch causing $1,400.00 in damage. The plaintiff claimed the Town failed to take any action to catch the dog.

The plaintiff brought a small claims action against the town to recover damages caused by the dog. The District Court ruled the Town was liable under the dog control law for the property damage inflicted by the stray dog. The Supreme Court reversed the trial court's decision, stating that while the dog control law imposes liability "upon municipalities for damage caused by a dog to other animals where adequate recovery is unavailable from the owner [of the dog] or through insurance", the statute does not impose liability upon a town for property damage inflicted by a stray dog.

The Supreme Court further held that the dog control law "permits, but does not compel, law enforcement officers to impound dogs and issue notices of violation to their owners". Finally, the Supreme Court held that the common law of New Hampshire does not impose an obligation upon a town to "prevent a stray dog from wandering onto the plaintiff's property and chewing on a dwelling". To hold otherwise, the Supreme Court said, would impermissibly make the town a guarantor of public peace, safety, and welfare".

Andrew J. Piela is an associate attorney at Hamblett & Kerrigan, P.A. His legal practice includes civil litigation, family law, land use litigation and probate. You can reach Attorney Piela by e-mail at: apiela@hamker.com

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