Here are the facts: feline Baxter, owned by Jessica Cox, regularly fights with neighbor Sally Allen's cats (among others). During one of these catfights, Allen opened her door to let her cat retreat into safety, only to be followed by Baxter, who apparently wanted to really make sure who was boss. Baxter jumped up on Allen's forearm, claws extended, allegedly causing all sorts of injuries as Allen tried to remove him. Understandably, Baxter just gripped tighter. When Allen tried to use her other hand to remove Baxter, of course Baxter bit the hand. This was the first time the cat had ever bitten any human.
So the argument turned over whether Cox had any liability. Previous to this case, the law was that if you didn't know the cat was dangerous to people, you were golden. You could ignore the massive catfights every night. That's changed: now if you can reasonably foresee that injury will occur to someone else as a result of your cat's fighting, you are liable. For example, when your cat goes to beat up someone else's cat, it's foreseeable the other cat's owner will try to intervene.
So, cat owners in Connecticut: beware! You have to keep an eye on your cat now. But don't worry; it's still better than the strict liability dog owners have where if a dog bites someone, you are guilty regardless.
My advice? Don't keep a cat that likes going on the prowl and beating up others, like Baxter. Since Baxter apparently shredded the curtains all the time as well...you get the point. Get a cute kitten instead. Purrrrrrr.
