The Case of a Child and a Neighbors Dog Peter Banag, the father of a child who was attacked by a neighbors

dog, has come to consult you about the possibility of his bringing a lawsuit against Arthur Sison, a neighbor. Peter brought along Fred Puzon to the interview. Fred witnessed what happened. The following is your interview with him. Interview with Mr. Fred Puzon, accompanied by client, Mr. Peter Banag. Sept 21 Q. Fred, how old are you? A. I am twenty-one, Attorney. Q. What di you do for a living? A. I work with the government. Q. Where do you live? A. I live at 24 Annapolis St., Cubao, Quezon City. Q. Did you see the dog attack Mr. Banags daughter? A. Yes, sir. I saw it bite Marys leg and even her arms as she fell to the ground. Q. Do you know who owned that dog? A. Yes, sir, the dog belonged to Arthur Sison. Q. What did you do when you saw the dog attack Mary? A. I immediately ran to help her but tripped on the gutter and fell on my hands and knees. Q. So what happened? A. I recovered quickly, moved on, and kicked the dog away. I then stood by to protect Mary from further attacks. Q. What happened to the dog? A. The dog kept on barking and looked as if it would attack us. Q. Did it attack you? A. No because Arthur came out of his house and sent his dog into his yard. Q. How about Mary, what happened to her? A. Arthur picked her up, called a tricycle, and brought her to a nearby clinic for treatment. Q. And you, what did you do? A. My friend then arrived and we left for the mall. Q. Did you know how old Mary was at that time? A. I found out that he was about six years old. Q. How did you get to know Arthur? A. We are neighbours. He lives at 12 Annapolis Street, the same street I lived. Q. Do you know why Mary was near Arthurs house? A. She went there to buy ice-candies. Arthur had been selling ice-candies at his house for sometime. Q. How did you know that? A. I myself used to buy ice-candies from him especially during summer. Q. When did the incident involving Mary happened? A. It happened on September 21 at about 3pm.

Q. What where you doing at that time? A. I was waiting on Annapolis Street for my friend Henry Uy to come and pick me up so we could got to the mall. Q. Do you remember what day of the week it was? A. It was a Saturday afternoon. Q. What did you see Mary doing from where you stood? A. I saw Mary approach Arthurs gate and knock on it. But no one answered. Q. So what did she do? A. Still she kept on knocking softly at the gate. Q. What happened next? A. A young girl of her age passed by and Mary waived at her. Q. So what happened next? A. Arthurs dog came out of the yard. As Mary tested the gate by pushing it, the gate yielded and the dog jumped out. Q. What did Mary do? A. She held the gate open and called in saying that she wanted to buy ice-candy. Pagbilan nga po ng ice-candy, she said. Q. So what happened? A. That was the time I saw the dog go after her. It attacked her from behind as she turned and ran to leave. Q. What was your reaction to what you saw? A. I was shocked for a moment. You asked Peter why he came out to consult with you and he said that he asked Arthur to pay her daughter P 20, 000.00 in damages for what she suffered but all he got was a letter from him. He have you the following letter.

Mr. Peter Banag 16 Annapolis St., Cubao, Quezon City Dear Mr. Banag: I regret that I could not grant your demand to pay you P 20, 000.00 for the injuries that your daughter suffered on September 12 when she came to my house at 12 Annapolis Street, Cubao, Quezon City. I was not at fault. I was napping in my house on the afternoon your daughter came to our gate. I was awakened when I heard some commotion outside. I thought for a while that people were quarrelling. But I heard shouts that my dog had attacked a child. I immediately got up and ran to stop my dog, Prancer, from attacking your daughter, Mary, who lay on the ground just outside the gate. Other neighbours had started to come out and see what was happening.

To augment the income of my family, I engaged in the business of selling icecandies at my house beginning in March of last year. My sale had been brisk especially during simmer days. I always sold my ice-candies at the gate when people came to buy. That gate had an automatic closer. But at times, I left it unlocked from the inside because my children often went in and out. I had a dog in my house, Prancer, but my gate carried a written warning about the presence of that dog. Until that afternoon of September 12, Prancer had not attacked any one. I immediately stepped out into the street as soon as I can and sent Prancer inside. I was really surprised that you had allowed your daughter to leave the house without an escort. I myself took care that my young children did not go out alone. At any rate, I called a tricycle and brought Mary to a medical clinic nearby for treatment of her wounds and for an injection. Later, her mother followed us to the clinic and she comforted her daughter. I paid the medical bill. I am sorry but I do not believe that I should be liable to your daughter for damages. Very truly yours, Arthur Sison