Jason Wyno et al.v.Lowndes County et al.
Misty Wyno was attacked and killed by a neighbor’s dog. Her husband, Jason Wyno, sued the owners, Lowndes County, and four county animal-control employees; the complaint alleged that officials had failed to act on earlier reports that the dogs were loose, threatening people, chasing children, and had bitten a child. The trial court dismissed the claims against the governmental defendants, relying on immunity and Georgia’s Responsible Dog Ownership Law. The Court of Appeals left intact dismissal of claims against Lowndes County and county employees sued in their public roles, applying former OCGA § 4-8-30’s bar on local-government liability for dog-caused injuries. It rejected Wyno’s argument that the statute applied only when officials failed to enforce state law, holding that it also covered claims based on local dog-control ordinances. The court held the complaint sufficiently alleged negligent failure to perform ministerial duties, so official immunity did not justify dismissing the employees in their individual capacities at the pleading stage. But the court could not decide whether former § 4-8-30 unconstitutionally barred those claims because the trial court had not expressly ruled on that constitutional challenge. It reversed dismissal of the individual-capacity claims and remanded for an express ruling on constitutionality and further proceedings. Presiding Judge Andrews and Judge Ray concurred.
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