Famous Dog Parents & Incidents Involving Their Pets

A Pop Star, a Politician, and a Reality TV Star: Dog Parents and Incidents Involving their Beloved Pets

When hearing about an incident involving a dog attack, one may typically think of a dog attacking a person or another animal. In this recent news story, however, it was not the dog who attacked—it was a person(s). A thief (or thieves) in Los Angeles shot a dog walker while he was walking three French bulldogs owned by Lady Gaga, and subsequently stole two of the three dogs. News of Gaga, her famous pooches, and the dog snatching incident made headlines, as well as Gaga’s offer of a $500,000 reward for information on the dogs, the eventual return of the two dogs, and the dog walker’s recovery from critical condition.1

In March of this year, headlines from Washington, DC reported on a new resident at the White House—“Major” Biden, President Joe Biden’s three-year old German Shepherd—and incidents involving Major after he caused a minor injury to a Secret Service agent and nipped at a person while on a walk. The spokesman for the Bidens point to Major adjusting to his new environment and confirmed he will undergo additional training.2

Headlines in national and local news covered an alleged dog attack in Middle Tennessee, which involved a German Shepherd and her famous owners: reality television star Kristin Cavallari and former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler. News outlets reported that one of Cavallari’s and Cutler’s German Shepherds allegedly attacked and caused injury to a cable and satellite installer as he attempted to leave the property, along with mentioning the $500,000 ad damnum the plaintiff listed in his complaint and Cavallari’s Instagram photographs of the German Shepherds with the hashtags, #Beast, #TrainedKiller, and #DontMessWithThisCrew.3 I mean, #woof.

Headlines reporting on alleged dog attacks remind us dog-owning Tennesseans that we have responsibilities as dog parents, even the famous ones. Following a brutal and horrifying dog attack that killed Dianna Acklen while walking near her home in 2006, the Tennessee Legislature took action and enacted the Dianna Acklen Act (the Act), which created a statutory cause of action against a dog owner when their dog attacks, injures, and/or causes death to a person.4 The Act established that dog owners have a duty to keep their dog under reasonable control and to keep the dog

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from running at large.5 If a dog owner breaches these duties, the owner is strictly liable for the person’s damages.6

The Legislature carved out exceptions to this Act, including the residential exception. This exception applies if a person is injured by a dog on the dog owner’s property.7 The injured person must show that the dog’s owner knew or should have known of the dog’s dangerous propensities.8 Dangerous propensities can mean a dog’s mischievousness or playfulness in addition to a vicious temperament.9 One can establish a dog’s dangerous propensities by showing that the owner previously knew of the dog’s prior harmful conduct to a person, among other ways.

It is also important to remember that dog bites are not the only way dogs cause injuries to a person. Though dogs may not actually bite, physical contact, such as jumping on and knocking down, can result in a person falling and sustaining injuries. Conduct or behavior without any physical contact can also cause injury, such as a dog lunging or jumping at or chasing a person. If a person walking a dog is not controlling the leash or walking multiple dogs, the leash can tangle and trip others or even entangle another person with the leash.

With the summer months in full swing and dog ownership on the rise, it is important to be a responsible dog owner and to keep your dog and others safe. n

Endnotes

1 Johnny Diaz, Lady Gaga’s Dogs Are Stolen and Dog Walker is Shot,

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The New York Times (Feb. 25, 2021); see also Stephanie Dazio, Lady Gaga’s Dogs Recovered Safely After Theft, Shooting, AP (Feb. 26, 2021).

2 ‘Major’ Pain: Biden’s Dog Involved in 2nd Biting Incident, AP (Mar. 30, 2021); see also Jenna Ryu, Biden family dog Major to get offsite, private training after two biting incidents, UsA TodAY (Apr. 12, 2021).

3 Lindsay Weinberg, Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler Sued for $500,000.00 Over Alleged Dog Bite Incident, E! (Apr. 14, 2021); Jessica Bennett, Exes Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler Sued By Cable Guy Over Alleged Dog Attack, PAge six (Apr. 17, 2021); Jay Cutler, Kristin Cavallari Ex Couple Sued . . . Your Dog Chomped My Thumb!!!, TMZ (Apr. 14, 2021); Julius Young, Kristin Cavallari, ex Jay Cutler Sued Over Alleged Dog Bite in Tennessee, Fox News (Apr. 14, 2021); Jay Cutler, Kristin Cavallari Sued Over Alleged Dog Bite, WGN9 (Apr. 14, 2021); Marshall Benson, Jay Cutler and Kristin Cavallari Sued $500,00 for Dog Bite, WSMV (Apr. 14, 2021).

4 S.B. 143, 105th Leg., 2007 Reg. Sess. (Tenn. 2007); see also Dianna Acklen Act of 2007, codified at TENN. CODE ANN. § 44-8-413. Section (c)(1) of the Act abrogates any common law claim, which falls within its parameters. See Searcy v. Axley, No. W2017–00374–COA–R3–CV, 2017 WL 4743111, at *6 (Tenn. Ct. App., at Jackson, Oct. 19, 2017).

5 TeNN. Code ANN. § 44-8-413(a)(1). Running at large is defined as allowing a dog to be on either public or private property without consent. This includes streets, highways, and roads. Id.

6 Id. § 44-8-413 (a)(1).

7 Id. (c)(1).

8 Id. (c)(1). In Searcy v. Axley, the Court of Appeals discussed how the court had previously described this burden by requiring that “the dog owner knew of the dangerous disposition of the dog, but that the ‘injuries result[ed] from [such] known vicious tendencies or propensities.’” Searcy, at *6 (citing Mayes v. LaMonte, 122 S.W.3d 142, 145 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2003) (quoting McAbee v. Daniel, 445 S.W.2d 917, 925 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1968)). The court also cited Georgia law: “a dog owner’s liability must be predicated solely upon his knowledge that the errant animal has the propensity to cause the specific type of harm from which the cause of action arises.” Id. (citing to Wells v. Beach, 315 S.E.2d 23 (Ga. App. 1984)). The court concluded that the “‘[t]he question in each case is whether the notice was sufficient to put the owner on his guard and to require him, as an ordinarily prudent man, to anticipate the injury which has actually occurred.’” Id. (citing to 13 AM. JUr 2d Knowledge of Animal’s Vicious Propensities § 3).

9 Moore v. Gaut, No. E2015–00340–COA–R3–CV, 2015 WL 9584389 (Tenn. Ct. App., at Knoxville, Dec. 30, 2015).

CAROLINE SAPP is the Managing Attorney for The Barnes Firm’s Tennessee office and focuses her practice on helping individuals in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases, insurance coverage disputes, and other civil litigation matters. She is a managing editor and co-chair of the Nashville Bar Journal Editorial Committee, a newsletter editor for the Lawyers’ Association for Women, Marion Griffin Chapter, and president of the Upper Cumberland Young Lawyers Association, a Tennessee Bar Association YLD affiliate. Caroline also has two sweet pups, Mowgli and BlueBelle, pictured above.