A stray cat in a community in Luoyang hurts people. Who should be held responsible, the feeder or the property management company?
Seeing the pitiful stray cats in the community, I occasionally fed them out of pity. Unexpectedly, the kitten made a big mistake and scratched the neighbor. The neighbor sued the feeder and the property management company to court. Recently, the People's Court of Luoyang Old Town District heard the tort liability dispute case. The neighbor sued the feeder and the property owner for compensation. Can the court support it?
Stray cats cause trouble and scratch people, and the feeder and the property company are defendants
Ms. Liu and Ms. Zhang are neighbors living in the same building in a community in the old city of Luoyang City, and a property management company is the property management company of the community. Stray cats are often found in this community, and Ms. Zhang and other community residents occasionally feed stray cats. In June 2021, the plaintiff, Ms. Liu, was scratched on her left calf by a stray cat in the building of the community. On the same day, Ms. Liu went to the hospital for treatment, spending a total of 1,829.5 yuan in medical expenses.
Because her claim for compensation was unsuccessful, Ms. Liu sued Ms. Zhang, who often fed stray cats, and the property management company to the old city court, demanding payment of medical expenses, transportation expenses, printing fees, case acceptance fees and other expenses.
Ms. Liu claimed that Ms. Zhang often fed stray cats, which caused the gathering of stray cats in the community, and she should be held responsible. The property management company did not clean up stray cats in the community in a timely manner, resulting in incidents of stray cats injuring people, and it should also be held responsible. Ms. Zhang argued that feeding individual stray cats only occasionally does not constitute a feeding and management relationship with the stray cats, and it has no direct relationship with the gathering of stray cats in the community. The property management argued that the "Pet Management Regulations" had been posted in the community, the owners had been advised and reminded, and stray pets had been controlled.
The court ruled that the property company should be liable for compensation.
If a stray cat scratches a person, do the well-meaning feeder and the property owner need to bear the responsibility?
The People's Court of Laocheng District ruled that the defendant, a property company, compensated the plaintiff, Ms. Liu, for various losses in total 1,929.5 yuan, and rejected the plaintiff, Ms. Liu's other claims.
The judge presiding over the case said that if the raised animals cause harm to others, the animal breeder or manager shall bear tort liability. The animal keeper refers to the owner of the animal, that is, the person who enjoys the right to possess, use, benefit from, and dispose of the animal; the animal manager refers to the person who actually controls and disciplines the animal. This case is a tort dispute caused by animals in a community causing harm to people. The core issue lies in the identification of the responsible party, and the prerequisite for the identification of the responsible party is to determine the owner or manager of the animal.
Regarding Ms. Liu’s claim that the defendant Ms. Zhang is the breeder and manager of the stray cats involved in the case and should be liable for compensation, the defendant Ms. Zhang denied it and the evidence provided by Ms. Liu was insufficient to prove the claim. The fact that the defendant Ms. Zhang fed the stray cats involved in the case did not mean that she had the right to possess or control the stray cats involved in the case, nor did it constitute breeding or management in the legal sense. Therefore, the lawsuit was requested by the Old City Court and was not supported in accordance with the law.
As the property manager of Ms. Liu’s community, the property management company should fulfill its management and safety obligations for the community. There are stray cats in the community involved. Because the animals have immeasurable behavior, that is, they pose dangers to the lives, health, and property of others, it should be determined that the property management company has the necessary obligations to control stray animals in the community.
Ms. Liu was scratched by a stray cat in the community. As the manager, the property manager only posted the "Pet Management Regulations" in the community. This cannot prove that it has fulfilled its obligation to control stray animals in the community and should bear corresponding liability for compensation according to law.
Extended reminder:
Nowadays, more and more caring people are concerned about the living conditions of stray cats. Some well-meaning residents will put cat food or leftovers at designated places to provide survival guarantee for stray animals. However, this can also easily cause stray animals to gather, further causing environmental problems such as sanitation and the risk of harming people. At the same time, it will also put themselves in disputes, so they should be cautious.
In this regard, the judge reminded that if you want to protect these stray cats and dogs, you should take shelter measures to prevent them from wandering in the outside world. At the same time, you can choose to adopt stray cats or directly fund stray rescue center organizations to express love and advocate sterilization measures to reduce the generation of more stray animals. If you are injured by an animal, you should take photos of the animal, the injury, and the surrounding environment as soon as possible to collect evidence, leave the contact information of the witnesses, and learn about the source of the animal from the surrounding people. At the same time, you should promptly obtain surveillance and fix the evidence to safeguard your legal rights in accordance with the law.
