WI · jury_instructions
Wis JI-Civil 1391
Liability of Owner or Keeper of Animal: Common Law
(An owner) (A keeper) of a(n) (insert name of animal) is deemed to be aware of the
natural traits and habits that are usual to a(n) (insert name of animal) and must use ordinary
care to restrain and control the animal so that it will not in the exercise of its natural traits
and habits cause injury or damage to the person or property of another.
In addition, if (an owner) (a keeper) is aware or in the exercise of ordinary care should
be aware that the animal possesses any unusual traits or habits that would be likely to result
in injury or damage, then the (owner) (keeper) must use ordinary care to restrain the animal
as necessary to prevent the injury or damage.
ADD THE FOLLOWING IF THE CLAIM CONCERNS A KEEPER OF AN
ANIMAL
[A person is said to be a keeper of an animal if, even though not owning the animal,
the person has possession and control of it or if the person permits another person who is
a member of his or her family or household to maintain the animal on his or her premises.]
SPECIAL VERDICT
1. Did (defendant) own or keep (animal)?
Answer: _________
Yes or No
2. Did (animal) cause injury or damage to the person or the property of another?
Answer: _________
Yes or No
If the answer to both question 1 and question 2 is “yes,” then answer Question No. 3:
3. Was the injury or damage due to the animal’s exercise of its natural traits and habits?
Answer: __________
Yes or No
If the answer to question 3 is “yes,” then answer Question No. 4:
4. Was (defendant) negligent in failing to use ordinary care to restrain and control the
(animal)?
Answer: __________
Yes or No
History
Wis JI-Civil 1391 (7/2024). Release No. 57. Wisconsin Court System, 7/2024. Prepared by the Wisconsin Civil Jury Instructions Committee of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference with the University of Wisconsin Law School; posted by the Wisconsin State Law Library with the University's permission.
Provenance
- Source
- wilawlibrary.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-24
- Edition
- 2026-09-24
- Content hash
8b0514dfec80a9741267c25c5af0fcf5e1c5b24ae97c797c54c5e5341f845dc8
The link goes to the issuing authority’s own document — the one we read to produce this record. Where a source publishes whole titles rather than sections, your browser may need a moment to jump to the provision.
Unofficial copy of government-published law, reproduced from official sources with full provenance. Not an official publication; verify against official sources before relying on it in a filing. Records in the 'guidance' corpus, and only that corpus, are sub-regulatory (interpretive guidelines, survey procedures) and are not binding law. Validity bounds follow each jurisdiction's declared temporalBasis.