Description
Court Of Appeal Consideration Of The Voluntary Assumption Of Risk Defence Pursuant To Section 5(2) Of The Animals Act 1971
The Court of Appeal dismissed the Appellant's appeal against the decision that the Respondent was not strictly liable for the injuries she sustained whilst she was riding a horse which had reared up and thrown her to the ground. The Court below had found that the Appellant had voluntarily assumed the risk that the horse would rear and buck if it was alarmed or startled and therefore that the Respondent had a valid defence pursuant to section 5(2) of the Animals Act 1971. The Court of Appeal held that in order for a defendant to successfully avail itself of the statutory defence to strict liability for injuries caused by dangerous animals, it was not necessary to establish that the injured person should foresee the precise degree of energy or force with which the animal would engage in its characteristic behaviour. The Court of Appeal held that the fact that the horse in the instant case had bucked more violently than had been anticipated by the Appellant did not take the case outside section 5(2) so as to defeat the Respondent's defence.
