Goennenwein v. Rasof

Four-year-old Lauren Goennenwein (plaintiff) accompanied her mother to a dinner at the home of Madelyn Rosof (defendant). Other dinner guests included Madelyn’s son, Jeffrey Rosof (defendant), who lived in another town and who brought along his 100-pound Rottweiler dog, Buddy. Although Buddy could be aggressive around other dogs, Buddy had never been known to harm or threaten people. During dinner, Jeffrey fed Buddy, who thereafter roamed around Madelyn’s house without growling, snarling, or threatening anyone. After dinner, however, as Lauren was leaving the table, Buddy jumped up on the girl and bit her face. Lauren’s father (plaintiff) sued both Jeffrey and Madelyn for damages. Count one of the complaint charged that the Illinois Animal Control Act (ACA) imposed liability on Jeffrey as Buddy’s legal owner and imposed liability on Madelyn as a statutory “owner” who, at the time Buddy inflicted injury, was keeping or harboring Buddy by providing the dog with care, custody, or control and by permitting Buddy to remain on her premises. Count two charged both Jeffrey and Madelyn with common-law negligence for knowingly harboring a dog whose breed was known to be vicious, thereby overcoming the common-law presumption that a dog is harmless unless it demonstrates vicious propensities. The trial court summarily dismissed the charges against Madelyn. The Goennenweins appealed to the Illinois Appellate Court.