Animals At Large – Or, When The Cows Don't Come Home

Imagine you are the owner of a farm in rural Georgia and were awakened by the knock on your door by a deputy sheriff who advised you that one of your cows had caused a motor vehicle accident. The deputy explained that a car collided with a cow on a nearby road and the driver was injured. As strange as this may sound, this scenario is not unheard of and accidents involving farm animals do occur, not only in Georgia, but throughout the country. At first glance, one would think that the owner of the animal involved is liable under any circumstance. After all, unlike the free range of the West in the 1800s, nowadays livestock should be kept in a fenced pasture and has no business in the middle of the road. Because of the widespread dependence on agriculture and the raising of livestock and the increasing population growth, different approaches to resolving conflicting issues have evolved. Eventually, most state legislatures recognized a need for a clear, uniform and