Goldberg v. Rabuchin

McCOMB, J. —This is an appeal by defendants from a judgment in favor of plaintiffs, after trial before the court without a jury, in an action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by plaintiff, Judith Arlene Goldberg, a minor, as a result of having been bitten by two dogs which belonged to defendants.

The evidence being viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiffs (respondents), the essential facts are:

On May 5, 1943, while crossing the intersection of Livonia and Pickford Streets, public highways in Los Angeles, two dogs owned by defendants attacked Judith Arlene Goldberg, a minor nine years of age, and bit her, causing numerous bruises and lacerations on her body.

Defendants rely for reversal of the judgment on two propositions which will be stated and answered hereunder seriatim:

First: There was not any substantial evidence to sustain the trial court’s findings that:

(a) The minor plaintiff sustained “two (2) wounds about one and one-half (D/z) inches apart on posterior surface of the right leg at the junction of the distal and middle thirds.”

(b) The minor plaintiff was given sulfanilamide; a/nd

(c) Defendants permitted their dogs wrongfully and neg [113] ligently to go at large without being properly guarded or confined.

This proposition is untenable.

(a) Dr. Herbert L. Herscher who attended the injured plaintiff testified as follows:

“I can’t recall the exact location of each laceration unless I have my notes because it is impossible for a physician to note the location which is unimportant in treatment. This girl came to the office with a bruise on her right elbow, laceration about two and one-half (2%) inches long on the calf of her leg, about two and one-half (2y2) inches long on the lateral side of the leg below the knee, laceration about one (1) inch long in the medial side of the right leg, two (2) small lacerations which connected under the skin halfway from the ankle to the middle third of the leg. A deep laceration to the left of the vagina and a small abrasion of the left leg. That is the extent of her injuries.”

The foregoing testimony clearly sustains the first finding which defendants question.