Arbegast v. Board of Education

OPINION OF THE COURT

Meyer, J.

The system of comparative causation established by CPLR article 14-A encompasses both the strict liability of an owner of a domestic animal to a person injured as a result of the animal’s vicious propensity and the assumption of risk implied from the injured person’s use of or contact with the animal with actual or constructive notice of such propensity. It does not, however, cover the express assumption of risk by the injured party. Plaintiff, a participant in a donkey basketball game, would have been entitled to a jury instruction on comparative causation based…