Wike v. Allison

In order to recover at common law, the plaintiff had the burden of proving that the defendant, who owned the dog which bit him, knew or had reason to know that his dog had vicious propensities. McIntire v. Plaisted, 57 N. H. 606, 609; Gagnon v. Frank, 83 N. H. 122, 123; Restatement, Torts, ss. 509, 518; 4 Am. Jur. 2d 332.

Plaintiff testified that the dog “didn’t look dangerous to me.” Defendant and his wife testified they did not believe the dog, a German shepherd, about five years old, constituted a danger to anybody, nobody ever complained about him and he never bit anyone before. They…