Long Overdue: Judicial Guidance On Dangerous Dogs

The entitlement to own a dog in the Cayman Islands is not absolute. In addition to licencing and registration requirements with the Department of Agriculture, owners are responsible not only for the welfare of their animal, but also for the welfare of others (including other animals) who may come into contact with it. Some contact is inevitable and whilst most will be benign there are some cases that are not. In the latter instances, owners may be subject to both civil and criminal liability for damages or injuries caused, usually determined in the first instance by the Magistrates of the Summary Court.

However, whilst empowered with the jurisdiction to deal with such cases, the decisions of the Magistrates (unlike decisions of judges of the Grand Court) are not binding on other Magistrates and therefore do not create binding precedent.¹ In the absence of any guidance from the Grand Court, and despite diligent reporting by various news outlets, each decision stands