Leary v. Keith

The plaintiff sued for damages resulting from the kick of a horse alleged to have been kept by the defendant with knowledge of his vicious habit of kicking.

*158The law is well settled, as stated by Knowlton, C.J., citing Popplewell v. Pierce, 10 Cush. 509, in Cooper v. Cashman, 190 Mass. 75: “If one knowingly keeps a vicious or dangerous animal which is accustomed to attack and injure mankind, he is prima facie liable for injuries done by it, without proof of negligence as to the manner of keeping it. The negligence on which the liability is founded is keeping such an animal with knowledge of its…