WRN file photo
Justices on the state Supreme Court reversed a decision in the case of a dog attack in Winnebago County.
The high court ruled 6-1 that George Kontos can’t be held liable for the incident at the property he owned in Larsen. He was a landlord for his daughter and her family, and he was letting them live at the house, rent-free.
Julie Augsburger said she was attacked by dogs, near a barn, when she went to visit the daughter in 2008. Augsburger filed a lawsuit against Kontos, claiming that he was “harboring” the dogs, because they were on his property.
Justice Ann Walsh Bradley says Kontos didn’t live on the property, or control the animals, so he can’t be considered an “owner” of the dogs.
WHBY