[*1]
People v Stone Barns Ctr.
2024 NY Slip Op 51826(U) [84 Misc 3d 136(A)]
Decided on December 19, 2024
Appellate Term, Second Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.


Decided on December 19, 2024
SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE TERM, SECOND DEPARTMENT, 9th and 10th JUDICIAL DISTRICTS

PRESENT: : JERRY GARGUILO, P.J., ELENA GOLDBERG-VELAZQUEZ, JOSEPH R. CONWAY, JJ
2024-514 W C

The People of the State of New York, Respondent,

against

Stone Barns Center, Appellant.


Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP (Ari M. Selman and Timothy Gordon of counsel), for appellant. Harris Beach, PLLC (Christopher H. Feldman of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal from an order of the Justice Court of the Town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester County (Robert J. Ponzini, J.), dated March 14, 2024. The order, insofar as appealed from as limited by the brief, after a hearing and the granting of a petition to have appellant's two dogs, Owyn and Luna, declared dangerous dogs under Agriculture and Markets Law § 123, found that the dogs had caused serious physical injury to the person they attacked and ordered that the two dogs be humanely euthanized.

ORDERED that the order, insofar as appealed from, is affirmed, without costs.

As limited by its brief, Stone Barns Center (SBC) appeals from so much of an order of the Justice Court (Robert J. Ponzini, J.), following a dangerous dog hearing held pursuant to Agriculture and Markets Law § 123, as, upon declaring two of SBC's dogs, Owyn and Luna, to be dangerous, found that they had caused "serious physical injury" (Agriculture and Markets Law §§ 108 [29]; 123 [3] [a]) to the person they attacked and ordered that both dogs be humanely euthanized. SBC does not contest the Justice Court's determination that it was established by clear and convincing evidence that Owyn and Luna are "dangerous dog[s]" under Agriculture and Markets Law § 123 (2) (see Agriculture and Markets Law § 108 [24] [a]). Rather, on appeal, SBC challenges the Justice Court's finding that the dogs had caused "serious physical injury," as defined in Agriculture and Markets Law § 108 (29), to the person they attacked and the court's decision to order that the dogs be humanely euthanized.

Agriculture and Markets Law § 123 (3) (a) allows a court to order the humane euthanasia of a dangerous dog if the dog has "attacked a person causing serious physical injury." Agriculture and Markets Law § 108 (29) defines "serious physical injury" as "physical injury which creates a substantial risk of death, or which causes death or serious or protracted [*2]disfigurement, protracted impairment of health or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ." At the dangerous dog hearing, the person who was attacked by the dogs testified that, as a result of the attack, she sustained: puncture and bite wounds to the exterior portion of her right hand requiring that the muscle be pushed back in and six to seven stitches to close the wound, which caused scarring; two to three broken ribs; bleeding in her brain; and a heart attack. In view of the foregoing, we find that the record supports the Justice Court's determination that the dogs caused "serious physical injury" to the person they attacked. Moreover, under the circumstances presented, which included the fact that, during the same incident, the dogs killed the victim's daughter's dog, we find that the Justice Court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in opting to order the humane euthanasia of Owyn and Luna as the most appropriate remedy among the options set forth in Agriculture and Markets Law § 123 (2) and (3) (see People v South, 56 Misc 3d 136[A], 2017 NY Slip Op 50995[U] [App Term, 2d Dept, 9th & 10th Jud Dists 2017]; Town of Southampton v Ciuzio, 19 Misc 3d 140[A], 2008 NY Slip Op 50911[U] [App Term, 2d Dept, 9th & 10th Jud Dists 2008]).

Accordingly, the order, insofar as appealed from, is affirmed.

GARGUILO, P.J., GOLDBERG-VELAZQUEZ and CONWAY, JJ., concur.

ENTER:
Paul Kenny
Chief Clerk
Decision Date: December 19, 2024