Luxury donkey bites into luxury car!

By Sandra Wiedmer, Attorney at Law, Pachmann, Attorneys, Zurich, Switzerland

A judgement of the Giessen Regional Court (DE) dealt with a luxury problem.

The owner of an orange luxury McLaren sports car reversed on a gravel road near a pasture. The donkey, which was in the pasture, stuck its head out of the fence and bit into the rear of the vehicle. As the driver could not immediately drive forward again out of fright, the donkey bit into the vehicle a second time.

The owner claimed repair damages of about €5,100 from the owner of the donkey.

The Court ruled that the requirements for animal owner liability under §833 BGB were met and that the defendant had to pay for the damage.

The donkey is considered a luxury animal according to §833 p.1 BGB and not a farm animal according to §833 p.2 BGB, as it does not contribute in its predominant purpose to a considerable extent to the occupation, gainful employment, or maintenance of the animal owner. Therefore, strict liability applies here.

Contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff could not be found either, as it could not be proven that he wanted to park the car instead of just turning it around and there is no evidence that the donkey had reacted in a jumpy manner to the engine and driving noises.

Therefore, the owner of the luxury donkey had to pay in full for the repairs to the luxury car.

It is not known whether the donkey had mistaken the orange sports car for a carrot!

Pachmann, Attorneys, Zurich, Switzerland: ‘www.pachmann.law’