Attack by pet raccoon not like family dog
Dear Lawyer,
My 10-year-old daughter revealed to me recently that her friend from school has a number of exotic pets in her home, some of which her parents bought from U.S. breeders. These include a skunk, a sugar glider, and a ferret. Their collection also includes a raccoon they rescued from the wild. I understand that the animals have full run of the house. I am nervous about her being around them at the next sleepover. Would the owners be legally responsible if something happened? — Cautious Corrales Mom
Dear Cautious Mom,
That certainly is an interesting set of animals running around one house! Wild animals, even bred in captivity, have not been domesticated for as long as dogs or cats, and have unpredictable temperaments. A wrong move or threatening approach can quickly trigger an aggressive and dangerous attack. The same could be said about an animal taken from the wild.
New Mexico law clearly prohibits private ownership of wild felines (like ocelots, tigers, etc.), primates, crocodiles, alligators, and wolves without a special license. Owning other captive-bred exotic animals requires a permit from the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish certifying to the health and proper housing of the animals. Keeping a wild animal, like a raccoon, requires a state permit that acknowledges the animal is unable to survive in the wild if released. Although county and local governments sometimes have additional restrictions on exotic pet ownership, it appears that neither the Village of Corrales nor the County of Sandoval do.
Whatever the status of exotic animal owners’ permits and licenses, an injury to a third party by an exotic animal is viewed differently by many courts than if inflicted by a family dog or cat. Typically, in a lawsuit over injury by a pet, the injured party has the burden of proving that the harm resulted from negligence. But in the case of an exotic animal, “strict liability” might apply, meaning it belongs to the category of activities that are considered so inherently dangerous that negligence is presumed.
For plaintiffs, that means only compensatory damages could be recovered, not punitive damages, since there is no need to prove negligence on the part of the animal owner. Privately keeping animals prohibited under New Mexico law would surely trigger the strict liability approach.
However, there is a middle course that might apply in your case. If your daughter— heaven forbid—were injured by one of the exotic critters living in her friend’s home, the court might shift the burden of proof to the animal owners, to show that they were not negligent. The animals you mentioned, while not illegal to own, may be seen as posing a greater risk of danger than ordinary pets.
The owners might claim, for example, that your daughter deliberately disobeyed house rules and teased or hurt one of the animals. But they would also have to show that they exercised commensurate care, which, in the case of a 10-year-old in a home where exotic animals run loose, would likely be a heavy burden of proof!
While researching this issue, I learned that one can easily obtain insurance to cover liability from owning exotic animals. In fact, some jurisdictions (not ours), require owners to carry such insurance. You might mention this to the friend’s parents.
Perhaps the wisest course of action, in your case, is to simply avoid a potentially dangerous situation. Maybe your daughter can invite her friend to come stay over at your house instead!
Ed Goodman worked for more than two decades as a trial lawyer in Massachusetts. A painter, screenwriter, and novelist, he lives in Corrales with partner Ennio Garcia-Miera and their six dogs, four turkeys, four chickens, and a parrot.