Guzzi v. New York Zoological Society — 233 N.Y. 511

Majority

p. 511

Blanche Guzzi, an Infant, by Joseph Guzzi, Her Guardian ad Litem, Appellant, v. New York Zoological Society, Respondent.

Headnote

Nuisance — child injured by bear while reaching under cage to recover ball — complaint dismissed on ground that she voluntarily placed herself in place of danger.

Guzzi v. N. Y. Zoological Society, 192 App. Div. 263 , affirmed.

(Argued January 26, 1922;

decided February 28, 1922.)

Appeal, by permission, from a judgment of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the first judicial department, entered October 25, 1920, unanimously affirming a judgment in favor of defendant entered upon a dismissal of the complaint by the court at a Trial Term. The action was to recover for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained by plaintiff through the alleged maintenance of a nuisance by defendant. Plaintiff, a girl twelve years of age, was playing ball in the Bronx Zoological Park. The ball rolled under a cage in which a bear was confined. Plaintiff, in order to recover the ball, climbed a fence in

p. 512

front of the cage and lay on the ground with her head against the cage while reaching thereunder for the ball. The bear reached through the cage, caught her by the hair and severely tore her scalp. The trial court dismissed the complaint on the ground that plaintiff had voluntarily placed herself in a place of danger.

Francis M. Scott and Joseph R. Truesdale for appellant.

James B. Henney and Alfred W. Andrews for respondent.

Judgment affirmed, with costs; no opinion.

Concur: His cock, Ch. J., Hogan, Cardozo, Pound, McLaughlin, Crane and Andrews, JJ.