Riad v. Brandywine Valley Spca, Inc.

Summary

The Court held that Delaware's dog-bite statute unambiguously imposes strict liability on any person who owns, keeps, harbors, or is the custodian of a dog, and that the statute contains no exception for animal welfare organizations. Whether the BVSPCA met that definition when Ceelo bit Riad remains a disputed factual question. The Court also held that expert testimony was not required to establish the ordinary negligence standard applicable to handling a domestic animal with known aggressive propensities, and it therefore reversed and remanded.