During the 2013 Baltimore Grand Prix, an 8-year-old girl in a wheelchair reached out to pet a Baltimore Police Department horse named Buster. The horse bit the girl’s hand; the family is now seeking $1 million in damages.
While that figure may at first seem absurd, it was a serious bite (and horses have some serious teeth), according to the lawsuit filed by the girl’s mother. The girl, who has cerebral palsy, needed two surgeries to repair her injured hand. The family’s lawsuit alleges that the police officer riding the horse is guilty of gross negligence, comparing his allowing the girl to pet the horse to an officer allowing children to touch his service weapon.
The Baltimore Police are denying liability, saying that the girl knowingly took a risk in reaching out to pet the horse.
The Baltimore Sun story on the case includes a nice little capsule history of the Baltimore Police’s mounted unit, which has shrunk to only 8 horses in recent years.
A parent who allows their child to reach out to pet a 1000 +lb animal with large teeth is just dumb. An animal is a animal. They can bite. I think this is a frivolous lawsuit.
The baby had cerebral palsy how could she have known