Summary Judgment Affirmed for Homeowners in Dog Bite Case

The Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of summary judgment to the defendant homeowners in a lawsuit seeking compensatory and punitive damages, arising after the defendants’ Cane Corso dog bit the plaintiffs’ 5-year-old daughter. In so holding, the Court rejected the plaintiffs’ claim that the defendants had prior notice of the dog’s vicious propensity when it growled at another child, since no evidence showed that the dog bit or attempted to bite anyone prior to the incident in question. For the same reason, the Court also held that the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment to the defendants on the plaintiffs’ premises liability claim as that claim also requires evidence of prior knowledge by the premises owner of the vicious propensity of the dog in order to show that the owner had superior knowledge of the danger.

Custer v. Coward, 293 Ga. App. 316, 667 S.E.2d 135 (2008).

Counsel for Defendant homeowner: Lynn M. Roberson