Griner v. Smith

MORRIS, Chief Judge.

The primary question presented by defendants’ appeal concerns the application of the North Carolina rule with respect to the liability of the keeper of domestic animals. Defendants contend that the trial court’s instructions were erroneous because they failed to require the jury to find that Dana’s April had a vicious propensity and that defendants knew or should have known of this propensity. We reject defendants’ contention for the reasons explained below.

The notion that a party must show the dangerous propensity of a domestic animal before establishing a basis for…