Eliza Adores Animals

question 38

Essay

Eliza adores animals.Consequently, although she works in a small office, she brings a number of pets to work with her every day.She always brings Higgins, her poodle.Depending upon the circumstances, she often also brings Henry, her badger.For the most part, the animals cause no problems.Eliza is very conscientious and she takes every precaution to ensure that her animals do not cause any damage to the people and property around them.Unfortunately, as a result of a thunderstorm, both Henry and Higgins became unusually agitated one day at Eliza's office.And despite Eliza's best efforts to comfort and control them, they both bit Rex, a courier delivery person, as he entered Eliza's office.Eliza is very apologetic, but she does not believe that she should be liable for the losses that Rex suffered as a result of the attack.She did, after all, do her best to protect Rex from harm, both by training Henry and Higgins to behave gently toward strangers and by trying to calm them down during the storm.Based on the common law rules discussed in Chapter 3, would a court hold Eliza liable to Rex? If so, on what basis?

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Definitions:

Court of Equity

A court of equity is a judicial body empowered to apply principles of equity, as opposed to law, to cases brought to it.

Assignment of Claims

The transfer of rights or claims from one party to another, allowing the assignee to collect the claim or benefit directly.

Uniform Commercial Code

A comprehensive set of laws governing commercial transactions in the United States, designed to unify business laws across states.

Statute of Frauds

This refers to a legal concept requiring certain types of contracts to be in writing and signed in order to be legally enforceable.