Sullivan v. Ward

FIELD, Chief Justice. This action of tort was brought by the plaintiff by his next friend to recover damages for injuries alleged to have been inflicted upon him on or about April 8, 1937, by a dog owned or kept by the defendant. There was a verdict for the plaintiff. The declaration appears to have been framed under G.L.(Ter.Ed.) c. 140, § 155, before that section was struck out by St.1934, c. 320, § 18, effective January 1, 1935 (section 34), and the following section substituted therefor: 'If any dog shall do any damage to either the body or property or any person, the owner or keeper, or if the owner or keeper be a minor, the parent or guardian of such minor, shall be liable for such damage, unless such damage shall have been occasioned to the body or property of a person who, at the time such damage was sustained, was committing a trespass or other tort, or was teasing, tormenting or abusing such dog.' The plaintiff, however, must recover, if at all, under the statute as amended. There was evidence tending to show that on April 8, 1937, the plaintiff, a child about two and a quarter years old, was put by his mother in her back yard to play, that the mother heard the child scream, ran out and saw a dog -- which could have been found to have been owned by the defendant -- leaping over a fence inclosing the yard. There was evidence tending to show that the plaintiff had sustained injuries, but the evidence of the cause of the injuries was meagre.