Appeal from an order of the City Court of Mount Vernon, Westchester County (Mark A. Gross, J.), entered September 20, 2011. The order, insofar as appealed from, following a hearing, upon declaring defendant's dog to be a dangerous dog, failed to direct defendant to maintain liability insurance pursuant to section 116-15 of the Code of the City of Mount Vernon, in a proceeding brought pursuant to Agriculture and Markets Law § 123.

ORDERED that the order, insofar as appealed from, is modified by providing that defendant is directed to maintain a liability insurance policy in the sum of $100,000 for personal injury or death resulting from an attack by defendant's dog; as so modified, the order is affirmed, without costs.

This special proceeding was commenced pursuant to Agriculture and Markets Law § 123 following an incident that occurred on July 11, 2011. At a hearing, evidence was adduced establishing that defendant's black male pit bull jumped off a seven-foot-high wall and, without provocation, attacked the complainant's beagle. The beagle later died from the wounds it had sustained in the attack. At the conclusion of the hearing, the City Court declared defendant's dog to be a dangerous dog. By order dated September 20, 2011, the City Court directed defendant to neuter and microchip his dog, to have the dog restrained on a leash by an adult of at least 21 years of age whenever the dog is in public, to have the dog wear a muzzle when in public, and, when not in public, to have the dog confined in defendant's home or locked in a pen as specified in the court's order. A subsequent motion by the People to, in effect, modify the September 20, 2011 order was denied. The People appeal only from the September 20, 2011 order.

On appeal, the People contend that the City Court should have imposed a condition in the September 20, 2011 order to the effect of directing defendant to obtain a $1,000,000 liability insurance policy in accordance with section 116-15 (a) of the Code of the City of Mount Vernon, which prohibits the owner of a dangerous dog from registering the "animal unless such owner produces proof that he has obtained liability insurance in the amount of at least $1,000,000 covering any damage or injury which may be caused by such dog during the twelve-month period for which registration is sought."

Agriculture and Markets Law § 123 (2) (e) provides that, upon finding that a dog is dangerous, the court may order the owner to maintain liability insurance in an amount not to exceed $100,000 for personal injury or death resulting from an attack by the dog. In our view, under the totality of the circumstances presented, the City Court should have imposed a condition requiring the owner to obtain a $100,000 liability insurance policy.

We note that, upon the registration of the dangerous dog, the issue of the imposition of liability insurance pursuant to section 116-15 of the Code of the City of Mount Vernon will lie with the City of Mount Vernon.

Accordingly, the order is modified by providing that defendant is directed to maintain a liability insurance policy in the sum of $100,000 for personal injury or death resulting from an attack by defendant's dog.

Tolbert, J.P., Nicolai and Iannacci, JJ., concur. [*2]
Decision Date: January 29, 2014