Irvine v. Rare Feline Breeding Ctr.

Mosella Schaffer (defendant) kept exotic animals, including Siberian tigers, on her farm, and repeatedly invited Scott Irvine (plaintiff), a friend of a tenant, to visit and see the animals over roughly two years, during which visitors sometimes petted the tigers through the fence. One night, after drinking heavily and being invited to sleep over, Irvine went to see the tigers alone, put his fingers through the fence to pet one, and while distracted by another tiger's noise, had his arm pulled through the fence by the tiger he was petting, suffering serious injuries requiring multiple surgeries. Irvine sued Schaffer for negligence, strict liability, and nuisance; Schaffer raised incurred risk and assumption of risk as defenses, and Irvine moved for partial summary judgment arguing those defenses do not apply to strict-liability animal claims, which the trial court mostly denied.