Vehicles which run over pets, or the drivers thereof, may not actually be responsible in the eyes of the law, it turns out. That’s the result of a case study involving a lady exercising her dog which unfolded in recent days in Nanjing.
Ms. Dai was out walking her dog on the evening on 18 September. Walking along Fuxing Jie in Nanjing’s Jiangning District, Dai had made the mistake of letting her dog roam free.
Her beloved pet would be left dead just a few minutes later.
Dai’s dog ran out into the road and was killed instantly by a passing car. Many might assume that the driver of the car be culpable, but as Dai learned, without the dog on a leash, she was the one to blame.
And as it turns out, she was not only responsible for the death of her own pet. In fact, Dai could also be held to financially compensate for any repairs necessary to the car that had taken her dog’s life.
But Dai was not satisfied with the police appraisal and called the 12345 convenience hotline the following day to complain. An officer calmly quoted for her the “Opinions on Relevant Issues in the Handling of Traffic Accidents” (Su Bus [2011] No. 94).
Therein it is stated, “If an accident is caused by a pet dog that is not tethered or improperly handled, its owner shall bear full responsibility for the accident”.
It’s a sobering reminder for dog owners in our city. The Nanjinger advises that dogs should display dog tags and be kept on a leash at all times when outdoors, while regulations also specify that any leash should be no longer than 1.5 metres.
Article 24 of the “Regulations of Nanjing Municipality on the Administration of Dog Keeping” also states, “The leash shall be in the charge of a person with full civil capacity, abiding by traffic regulations and actively avoiding pedestrians and vehicles”.
Back to Ms Dai. The Paper reports as having been told by Jiangning Police that the car owner involved did not in the end ask Dai to compensate for any costs of repair to the car.
