In 1980, a case came before the Tampa, Florida Bankruptcy Court Judge Alexander Paskay, that was unusual enough to prompt him to begin his opinion: "When man bites dog, that is news. When dog bites man, that is not news unless the victim of the bite is a veterinarian and he is bitten by his patient. This is not unusual either and would not be noteworthy by itself except where the owner of the patient is sued by the veterinarian. That is not only news, but no doubt adds an unusual twist to an old but not otherwise very interesting encounter between man and beast."
Paskay continued, "At this point one should wonder what this has to do with bankruptcy court, especially since neither the vet, nor the dog named Hashish" -- Hashish? -- "has ever had any financial difficulties as far as appears from the record." Paskay explained, however, that Hashish's owners, Howard and Linda Sadwin, had filed for bankruptcy mainly to eliminate a judgment against them obtained by a veterinarian named Thomas Gornall.
In 1976, the Sadwins lived in Seattle, Washington and were convicted of violating an animal nuisance ordinance because Hashish, a German Shepherd, barked too much and jumped at people while he was on a leash. There was no evidence he had ever bitten anyone before, but Judge Paskay noted that, according to Dr. Gornall, the dog "is appropriately named Hashish since Hashish means 'assassin' in Arabic."
The Sadwins took Hashish to Dr. Gornall for treatment of a skin rash on his belly, as well as for an ear infection. They claimed that they mentioned their conviction to Gornall at that time, while he denied having been told about it.
To get a better look at the dog's underside, Dr. Gornall had them lay Hashish on his side on the floor and hold him while Gornall examined it more closely. The dog suddenly freed his head and bit Gornall in the lip area. The Sadwins later claimed Gornall must have put pressure on some sensitive area of the dog's body, while Gornall claimed the bite was unprovoked.
It must have been quite a bite, too, because Gornall sued the Sadwins, and when for some reason they did not respond to the lawsuit, he was awarded almost $80,000. He still had to introduce some evidence to get the judgment, and there was testimony that, while a veterinarian runs a risk of dog bites, the risk is mainly of bites to the hand, not the lip.
The Sadwins then moved to Florida, and filed the bankruptcy petition that landed before Judge Paskay. The case arose under one of the more unusual aspects of bankruptcy law. Most debts -- credit cards, bank loans, and state court judgments arising from personal injuries -- are wiped out by a bankruptcy filing. On the other hand, certain kinds of debts, like income taxes and child support, cannot be wiped out by a bankruptcy at all.
In between these two poles is a third kind of debt. Bankruptcy is supposed to protect the "honest debtor" -- the average person who has gotten in over his head, not someone who has committed fraud or other kinds of "malicious" acts. (Since the law changed in 2005, of course, it's become much more difficult for lots of folks to file at all).
"Fraudulent" and similar activity can still be wiped out, but the person who was owed money can ask the bankruptcy court to decide if that the debt should be included. Judge Paskay acknowledged a long line of decisions had had held that dog bites were "malicious" for purposes of bankruptcy law. But he decided that, because they were mostly older cases, and were based on the assumption the dog's owner knew that a dog was dangerous, the Sadwins should have been able to take Hashish to a vet when he was sick.
So Paskay allowed them to wipe out Dr. Gornall's judgment, stating, "Obviously, a vet is supposed to be trained to handle his patients." He added that a vet who has concerns about a certain animal "is free to decline to render the services requested and should restrict his practice to treating small, docile animals such as canaries, hamsters and the like."
Maybe so. Still, "James Herriot," the pseudonymous author of the All Creatures Great and Small books that made him the most famous vet in the world, was once asked whether there were any animals he didn't like to treat.
"Herriot," whose real name was James Alfred Wight, replied, "Hamsters. They bite."
Though, as with Hashish, perhaps not in the lip.
Frank Zotter, Jr. is a Ukiah attorney.
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