Georgia Supreme Court to Take Up Wild Animals Case

The Georgia Supreme Court agreed to take up a case challenging the limitations of liability for landowners when a person is injured by a wild animal.  The details of the case:

In October 2007, 83-year-old Gwyneth Williams was house-sitting for her daughter and son-in-law in their Savannah-area suburb while the couple were in Europe.

Neighbors found Williams floating dead in one of the many lagoons that dot the swampy coastal development, known as The Landings. A medical examiner determined that an alligator had bitten off Williams’ forearms, her hands and her right foot. A trapper eventually found an 8-foot alligator, killed it and found Williams’ body parts inside the creature’s stomach.

Williams’s survivors brought suit, challenging the doctrine that landowners are not liable for wild animals unless the landowner has domesticated or controlled the animals. 

–BC