Priebe

*1115 Opinion

Plaintiff Marta Priebe, a commercial kennel worker, brought this action against defendant Russell Nelson for personal injuries suffered when she was bitten and seriously injured by Nelson’s dog while it was boarded at the kennel that employed her. Priebe appealed from the trial court’s order denying her motion for judgment notwithstanding the defense verdict, arguing a directed verdict should have been entered in her favor on her strict liability claim brought under Civil Code section 3342 (section 3342), commonly referred to as the “dog bite statute.” Section 3342 makes the owner of any dog “liable for the damages suffered by any person who is bitten by the dog . . . regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness.” (§ 3342, subd. (a).)

Nelson countered that the so-called veterinarian’s rule absolved him of any potential liability for injuries inflicted on Priebe by his dog while it was boarded at the kennel. Under that rule, which is a recognized application of the doctrine of primary assumption of risk, a dog owner who contracts with a veterinarian to treat his or her dog is generally exempt from liability should the…

By enacting Civil Code section 3342, the Legislature has made a dog’s owner liable “for the damages suffered by any person who is bitten by the dog while in a public place or lawfully in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness.” (Civ. Code, § 3342, subd. (a).) The Legislature has established exceptions to this statutory liability; The owner is not liable for dog bite injuries inflicted under specified circumstances by dogs engaged in military or police work. (Id., § 3342, subds. (b)-(d).)

Not satisfied with the exceptions that the Legislature has authorized, the majority here creates another. The majority holds that because plaintiff Marta Priebe worked at a kennel where the dog that savagely bit her was being boarded, the dog’s owner is not liable under Civil Code section 3342 for the damages resulting from her dog bite injuries. The majority reaches this result by extending the so-called veterinarian’s rule, itself an extension of the firefighter’s rule, to judicially declare a nonstatutory exception to a statutory liability.

*1133 I disagree. Although this…

Plaintiff Marta Priebe, a commercial kennel worker, brought this action against defendant Russell Nelson for personal injuries suffered when she was bitten and seriously injured by Nelson's dog while it was boarded at the kennel that employed her. Priebe appealed from the trial court's order denying her motion for judgment notwithstanding the defense verdict, arguing a directed verdict should have been entered in her favor on her strict liability claim brought under Civil Code section 3342 (section 3342), commonly referred to as the "dog bite statute." Section 3342 makes the owner of any dog "liable for the damages suffered by any person who is bitten by the dog ... regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner's knowledge of such viciousness." (§ 3342, subd. (a).)

Nelson countered that the so-called veterinarian's rule absolved him of any potential liability for injuries inflicted on Priebe by his dog while it was boarded at the kennel. Under that rule, which is a recognized application of the doctrine of primary assumption of risk, a dog owner who contracts with a veterinarian to treat his or her dog is generally exempt from liability should the dog…