VRONDEE V. SPORT -- REFEREE COMPENSATED

By Brett A. Purtzer; Oct 1997

           On the early afternoon of September 1, 1994, Dean Harrison, a 71 year old gentleman, was walking his faithful companion, his dog Sport, along Whitman Cove Road when suddenly both he and Sport were attacked by a neighbor's Rottweiler, Vrondee.  Instinctively, Mr. Harrison attempted to fend off the Rottweiler as it came charging out of the brush, but after the Rottweiler pulled his arm down and knocked him down, Vrondee went after Sport.  At that time, Mr. Harrison pulled out a small knife that he carries with him and began stabbing Vrondee in the belly.  Vrondee turned his aggressions toward Mr. Harrison and severely lacerated his left arm.  Mr. Harrison was barely holding on in his fight against Vrondee's attempts to drag him into the brush and, as Mr. Harrison believed, kill him when Mr. Harrison's neighbor, Jeff Hartjoy, came along the road, saw the altercation occurring and shot Vrondee twice with his .357 that he carried in his vehicle.  After the dog died and the threat was gone, Mr. Harrison was rushed to Allenmore Medical Center in Tacoma where emergency surgery was performed to his left arm.

           Suit was filed in Pierce County Superior Court for the dog bite against Mr. Harrison.  Interestingly, Mr. Harrison had had a previous encounter with Vrondee when approximately a year before this event, Vrondee came out of the brush and went directly for Sport, who again was being walked by Mr. Harrison.  At that time Mr. Harrison grabbed Vrondee around the neck to pull him off Sport at which time Vrondee just simply threw Mr. Harrison off.  Mr. Harrison then picked up rocks throwing them in Vrondee's face to force the dog to run off, which he did.  Since that time, however, Mr. Harrison had not had any subsequent encounters with Vrondee, aside from walking in front of the home where Vrondee was occasionally chained. 

           At trial, the testimony came out largely as set forth above, but with the additional twist that the dog's owners were not residing at their home due to medical reasons, and only periodically would individuals come out to check on Vrondee.  The testimony at trial also indicated that some of the neighbor kids as well as Mr. Harrison's son went to the owners' residence to look at the area where the dogs were penned up, and noticed that one of the pens, which was constructed of "chicken wire", was bent down and it was clear that the dog had escaped from this pen. 

     At trial, theories of negligence and strict liability, pursuant to RCW 16.08.040, were presented to the jury.  The defense raised the claim of contributory negligence for Mr. Harrison's actions of defending himself.  At the close of all of the evidence, the Honorable Judge Arthur J. Verharen determined the owners liable as a matter of law and that no comparative negligence existed for Mr. Harrison defending himself.  As such, the only issue for the jury to decide was the damages that Mr. Harrison should receive.       During trial, the parties stipulated that the medical bills of $7,782.08, were reasonable and necessary.  Before trial, the insurance company, Farmers, offered to settle the matter for $50,000.  Believing that this was far less than what would be obtained at trial the offer was rejected out of hand.  At trial, during closing statements, the defense asked for $25,000 in compensatory damages in addition to the $7,782.09 in medical bills.  Conversely, I asked for $500,000, which I knew to be the policy limits.  The jury, after approximately one day of deliberations, returned a verdict in favor of Mr. Harrison for $157,782.09.  This verdict is believed to be one of the larger jury verdicts in Pierce County for a dog bite of this nature.  The count was 10-2 with the other two jurors holding out for approximately $400,000 in damages.

           At trial, there were two pieces of evidence I believe were particularly important for the jury.  One was an aerial photograph depicting the location where Mr. Harrison was injured and the other was enlarged color photos showing the pre-surgery condition of Mr. Harrison's arm.  In particular, the pre-surgery pictures taken by Dr. John Jiganti, the orthopedic surgeon, were particularly enlightening to show the severity of the injuries Mr. Harrison received.  What was also significant was Judge Verharen's appropriate legal conclusion that, indeed, an individual has a right to protect his property, in this case Sport, when being attacked by a rogue animal and that an individual will not be found comparatively negligent if subsequently injured.  Mr. Harrison, who still resides in the Key Center area, was indeed satisfied with the result particularly after the low ball offer by the insurance company.