By Diane E. Rice | the Horse
The Connecticut Senate unanimously passed HB 5044 on May 6, which prevents domesticated horses from being classified as vicious. The state’s House of Representatives passed the law unanimously in April, and Governor Dannel P. Malloy, who introduced the legislation in February, has committed to signing the bill into law.
The law refutes two court decisions that involved a horse in Milford, Connecticut, that bit a child in 2006. The initial court ruling in 2010 sided with the horse’s owner due to the horse’s lack of a biting history. However, that decision was appealed and overturned in February 2012, resulting in a Supreme Court case decided in March. That decision stated that horse owners and keepers have “a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent injuries that are foreseeable because the animal belongs to a species or breed that is naturally inclined to cause such injuries, and that the owner may be held liable for negligence if he or she fails to take such reasonable steps and an injury results.” This decision resulted in court decisions on a case-by-case basis.
Statement by Rose Law Group Equine Law Attorney Adam Trenk:
“The legislation is a welcome and necessary following the rulings of activist courts with demonstrably little knowledge about the horse business. I applaud this step taken by the Connecticut Legislature to ensure the insurability and consequently the viability of the equestrian industry.
If you’d like to discuss equine law, contact Adam Trenk, atrenk@roselawgroup.com
