Melanie Petrone was delivering mail when she noticed an unleashed rottweiler approaching her.
In order to avoid a confrontation with the animal, Petrone tried jumping through her vehicle's driver's side window and ended up jamming her right middle finger on the doorframe.
After the Queens County Supreme Court granted the a request to dismiss Perone's personal injury case, the Appellate Division, Third Department, reinstated the lawsuit because the animal's custodian had violated a local leash law.
On appeal to our state's highest court, the Court of Appeals didn't think the leash-law lapse justified the lawsuit's continuation, as "'negligence' is no longer a basis for imposing liability" when domestic animals cause injury or harm.
The Court of Appeals sure put a leash on that.
To view a copy of the Court of Appeals's decision, please use this link: Petrone v. Fernandez