Academia, Animals

Professor Luna Teaches Animal Liability At GW

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In an annual tradition, yesterday saw the appearance of visiting canine academic Luna to my torts class to teach (and demonstrate) elements of animal liability in torts.  Shown here with a few of our students, Professor Luna was met with great acclaim and copious treats.

Professor Luna took the class through difficult concepts like animus revertendi (the habit of return) and the sometimes uncertain line between wild and domesticated animals as well as common rules regarding capture, strict liability and distress damage feasant. She then laid down and ate treats (showing that she is now fully tenured).

32 thoughts on “Professor Luna Teaches Animal Liability At GW”

  1. that’s a full size schnauzer? miniature schnauzers are known to bite.

    thinking of the one bite rule, and I imagine that pooch has some good fangs and could make his first one count

  2. Great story. Professor. What a sweet pup you have.. i know your students enjoyed the class.
    Our dog is sweet, too, but is a pure-bred yellow lab who doesn’t like water and won’t eat food except on his own terms….totally. unheard of for a lab! So his presence would be more beneficial in a Psych class, rather than a law class!
    And oh my Lord, your students look so young!!!!

    1. Cindy Bragg – you know you are getting old when you start asking if the cops are old enough to give you a ticket. 😉

  3. Speaking of animals, I am fostering a mother cat and two kittens. Wow, the first week was like momma attacking the crap out of my hand when I tried to clean the litter, or sweep up the mesh kennel. Everybody else was afraid to work with her, which is how I wound up with her.

    Now, she is wandering around the house, loose, with the other cats here, and letting me pet her, and pick her up. I can pretty much hold the kittens, too. But if she gets uncomfortable, she only places her paw on my hand, and doesn’t try to slice off chunks of meat off me.

    She seems to be a sweet cat now. We were worried at first that if the pound picked her up, they would put her down for being aggressive. Now, I am not sure that she was ever a truly feral cat, but just an abandoned cat. She runs around thru the house, and enjoys playing with the mousy on the fishing line toy.

    I will probably end up keeping her, as she seems to have become attached to me. I need another cat the way I need. . .

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

    1. Squeeky – we just got a new rescue Chow. Took 3 days before she would let me touch her. Now she is coming to me to be petted. I do not clean out her litter box though. 😉

      2. Paul C. For people who don’t have country property, you cannot believe the number of puppies and full grown dogs that are dumped on country roads!!
        Our daughter and son-in-law have tried to save and nurture as many as they can….plus give them to good shelters.
        It’s really sad people just dump them so heartlessly. One was a Great Pyrynees!

        1. Cindy Bragg – the nice thing about Chows is that they are inactive indoors and active outdoors. This is our third Chow. They are not for everyone and I would never recommend them for people who have small children. They are very smart and you can see the wheels turning as they decide whether they are going to obey or not. It is a “What’s in if for me?” 🙂

          This one is two years old and has not been trained so we are having to start from scratch.

          1. Paul C ……Chow owners love their chows. Chows do seem to be highly intelligent. We just keep coming back to labs. They are happy ALL of the time and love kids.
            We have friends who love Shelties………but when you give a party with a full house of people, if you’re not careful, ….within an hour that Sheltie will actually “herd” all of the guests into a tight circle in one room. It’s hilarious!

            1. Cindy Bragg – Chows are not party dogs. You have to party at someone else’s house. 😉 They are extremely territorial.

              1. Paul……….if you don’t have kids in your house all the.time like we do, then I think a territorial dog is a great asset….not just for the dog’s company, but for peace of mind with so much crime..

                1. Cindy Bragg – if you start with it as a puppy you are okay with kids. However, if you get a rescue, you want to be careful with small kids in particular. They are great dogs for older couples.

                  BTW, how is your husband doing on that Custer book?

                  1. Paul……..he loves the feel of it being a personal narrative, but because it is a reproduction, the type is extremely small and has to be read with a magnifying glass……which is slow going.
                    He wants to find another edition on-line that has bigger type, so we’ll probably have to settle for a paperback.
                    But we both are very appreciative to you for telling us such a book existed.
                    It’s a fine addition to our library!

        1. Al O’Heem – I thought that was a terrible musical with a couple of good songs.

  6. Professor Turley is nobody’s fool. He knows bringing dogs to work/school/the park always attracts the girls.

  7. Darren Smith – help help help. I am not getting any emails since midnight last night from the Turley site.

      1. Natacha – at least I am getting yours. Someone who is afraid to show their face in the light of day.

        1. “Their” face? Are you suggesting that Natasha has more than one face? (In which case it should be “faces.”) Or is it that Natasha is more than one person but they all share the same face?

  8. So the female component in your torts class is 2 to 1. I am wondering what gender studies is complaining about? Good to see Prof. Luna again.

    BTW, how do you get away with a class of 9. I had to have at least 15 to have the class “make” when I was teaching college.

    1. The article states that Prof. Luna is “shown here with a few of our students.” As in, just those students who chose to be in the photo, not the entire class, you nitwit.

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