Well, maybe not Pit Bulls, but Pit Hippos .....
Posted on 05/27/2010 7:59:53 PM PDT by Daffynition
A car insurer has asked a Canadian family to pay for repairing a broken bumper after their dog was struck by the vehicle and died, local media said Thursday.
The traffic accident occurred in March while Jake, a 12-year-old yellow Labrador, was out for his daily stroll around a quiet neighborhood in Aurora, Ontario, north of Toronto.
Kim Flemming had let the dog out when she arrived home from work. Moments later, a man knocked on the door to say a car had run over Jake.
"I got to the road and he was dying," Flemming told the Toronto Star. "He died in my arms."
Two months later, the family received a bill in the mail for 1,732.80 Canadian dollars (1,648.95 US) from State Farm Insurance.
The letter said Flemming had been found responsible for damage to the vehicle. "As such, we are looking to you for reimbursement," it reportedly stated.
[snip]
State Farm was not immediately available for further comment.
"We've lost a member of our family but we're supposed to pay for the damage to her bumper? That's just wrong," daughter Katherine Flemming said.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Oh .... that’s cold. ;)
Modern cars are garbage. If I’d hit the dog in my truck, I wouldn’t need to fix a damned thing.
Modern vehicles are disposable plastic toys. Made to fall apart. Made to cost an arm and a leg to fix, so you have to buy a new one in 10 years.
In California, I believe that Dog owners are responsible for loose-dog related automobile accident damages — especially on freeways.
If the dog was left to roam around on it’s own, then yes the owner should be liable for damages.
As someone who's had dogs all his life, and considers his dog a full blown member of the family, I couldn't possibly agree with you more.
Any responsible dog owner would no sooner let their dog out of the house unsupervised than they would a two year old child. Shame on this woman.
Not really, it's the same temperature at first, but since it's Canada I'm sure it doesn't "steam" for long before it does become cold and hard.
“Moments later, a man knocked on the door to say a car had run over Jake.”
A lot of people would have hit and run.
My Labrador got run over several years ago and I had to pay 4800.00 for the repairs. Well not really me as I had rental insurance on the property I was renting.
My 3yo(at that time) daughter and I were playing ball with the lab on the 5 acre property. My daughter was having some issues that I had to attend to so I had to take my eyes of the lab. He wandered off and I hear a loud thunk coming from the street. I looked over and he was just laying there. I ran over and picked him up and brought him inside.
There was some minor damage to the bumper of the car. I guess the man and the lady both had a case of whiplash. My daughter was in tears. And I lost my best hunting pal of 8 years.
It was my fault that my dog died and the car was damaged. I have hit dogs before in the road and I don’t think I could have the nerve to sue. But it was my responsibility.
Perhaps she should send the man a bill for the dog’s vet bills, funeral and pain and suffering to the family. If there are no leash laws, she had every right to let her dog out for a stroll.
Pay up!
I made a guy pay to repair my truck when I killed 2 of his arabian horses that ran across the road!
garbage like this is why I dropped State Farm and will NEVER go back to them.
Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.
Sniff test: How fast would a vehicle have to be going (this was on some sort of residential street) for its bumper to incur $1700 worth of damage (or any damage, for that matter) from an impact with a Labrador retriever? And what was the legal speed limit? Or was the bumper damaged well before the impact with the Labrador, and the vehicle owner saw this as a good opportunity to get a new bumper without paying for it?
If the driver was speeding, he should be paying for a nice casket and headstone for the dog as well as for a new dog for the family, paying for his own new bumper (regardless of when it actually got damaged), and thanking God it wasn’t an escaped young child he hit. If he wasn’t speeding, I seriously doubt the dog had anything to do with the damaged bumper, and he probably ought to be facing insurance fraud charges.
The dog owner is liable.
I once had a dog it was impossible to keep in the house. My friends used to swear he was an alien. He would look at you like he was reading your mind. Shepherd terrier mix.
He was smarter than anyone I know. And that’s scary.
He was only about 35 lbs but could figure out how to climb any fence. He also could open doorknobs. But his favorite was to wait in a high position on the stairs, so he could see people approaching the house.
He would tear down the stairs using his head as a battering ram, and time it so the moment someone clicked the front screen door, he would ram it with his head, the door would fly and he would disappear in the distance.
When I got sued for my dog getting run over I asked the insurance guy those same questions. He said it was easier as well as cheaper for State Farm (my insurance)to settle with the people who ran my dog over than to challenge any of their claims.
While I do agree that the family is negligent for letting a dog run around unsupervised, how can State Farm legally compel them to pay up?
I’d be interested in Joe 6-pack’s take. He may have some experience in matters such as this.
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