Decisions Impacting Companion Animals and Their Owners
11.21.2025
Two recent decisions by the New York State courts involving animals are the subject of an upcoming legal education course presented by the New York State Bar Association.
The program will examine the changes in precedent made by the court’s decision in Flanders v. Goodfellow in April. The court’s unanimous decision, which overturned the appellate court, represents a major shift in the law, allowing a plaintiff in a dog bite case to recover based upon a showing of mere negligence rather than proof of the defendant’s prior knowledge of the dog’s vicious propensities. The ruling aligns New York with most other states.
The second case, Deblase v. Hill, a June 2025 decision from Kings County Supreme Court, expands the definition of “immediate family” under the “zone of danger” legal doctrine to include the family dog, opening the door for a plaintiff to recover damages when her dog was struck by a car and killed in her presence.
The virtual program on Dec. 11 is free for members and attendees will earn one MCLE credit in the area of professional practice. The hour-long program features Nora Constance Marino and Spencer Lo, both skilled attorneys in the area of animal law.
Marino is a New York attorney concentrating in personal injury, civil rights law, and animal rights law. She is also the president of the Legal Action Network for Animals. Lo is a senior staff attorney at the Nonhuman Rights project, the only civil rights organization in the United States dedicated solely to securing rights for nonhuman animals. While the program is free for members, registration is required here. The program is sponsored by the New York State Bar Association Committee on Animals and the Law.
