Woman is run over by runaway cow, says cow's owner is strictly liable. Defense Verdict. Sacramento County.

Facts and Background

• Facts and Background:

  Defendant was in the process of inoculating 12 newly purchased cows when the squeeze chute broke and one of the cows escaped his possession. The cow ran over defendant’s wife and escaped the property through a gate left open by defendant. Defendant and a ranch hand chased the cow for approximately one mile before the cow entered the plaintiff’s property through an open gate; a gate which is typically closed 363 days out of the year.

  Defendant and the ranch hand spoke with plaintiff’s husband who agreed to help try to wrangle the cow. Plaintiff, who was sitting in her living room, came out to the field in her flip-flops and dress. Plaintiff believed the ranch hand was throwing rocks at the cow and started to yell at him. Defendant and the ranch hand yelled at plaintiff to stay back as she ducked under a 5-foot steel pipe fence and began marching across the field. The cow charged plaintiff at full speed from approximately 300 feet away and knocked her to the ground. Plaintiff made claims for negligence and strict liability for trespassing animals (a common law theory holding an owner or possessor of livestock strictly liable for property damage or personal injury “of a kind that reasonably could have been anticipated from the fact of the trespass under all the circumstances, including the type of animal involved.”).

• Plaintiff's Contentions:

  Plaintiff claimed that defendant's failure to shut a gate near the squeeze chute was negligent and would have prevented the incident from happening.

• Defendant's Contentions:

  Defendant argued that he was not negligent and that the series of events was unpredictable and out of his control.