Woman suing pet shop denies tripping over her own dog

The owners of the Petzone store in Coolock deny negligence after woman claimed she tripped on a lip at the pet shop's door 

A file photo of a Glen of Imaal terrier. The defendants told the High Court the claimant tripped over her own Glen of Imaal terrier. Stock picture: Wikipedia

Woman suing pet shop denies she tripped over her own dog

A woman who broke her leg when she claimed she tripped on a lip at a door in a pet shop has denied in the High Court that she tripped over her own dog which she had brought in to have its nails clipped.

Carole Vickery (61), of Adare Drive, Coolock, Dublin, is suing Petzone Ltd and its owner Kieran Stenson over the accident in Petzone, Coolock Village, on August 9, 2014.

The defendants deny negligence and say she fell while trying to avoid her dog which ran in front of her legs.

She claims she fractured her femur in the fall when her foot got caught in a runner for a sliding security door at the entrance to the premises. She said she “fell forward and landed all the way out in the middle of the yard”.

A pharmacist working in a premises directly opposite the pet store told the court she saw Mrs Vickery stumble after she tried to avoid stepping on her own Glen of Imaal terrier which had run in front of her.

Jennifer Rigney, who worked in the Village Pharmacy, Coolock, said she was looking out the window when she saw a woman come out of the pet store and “almost before she fell I could see it happening”. She said the dog ran across her and she tumbled and fell over.

Asked by the defendants’ counsel, Miriam Reilly SC, why she could have anticipated something was going to happen, Ms Rigney said:  "Whatever way her foot went to come out onto the pavement and rather than stand on the little dog she tumbled."

Ms Rigney wrote a note about what she saw at the request of Mr Stenson on the day after the accident.

She also said she was very glad she wrote the note because she would not have remembered today what had happened so many years ago.

The court heard that Mr Stenson, who held the door open for Mrs Rigney as she exited, will also give evidence that the dog ran between her legs and that he heard someone say “the dog is a... nuisance” after the accident.

Mrs Vickery disagreed that she told her doctors she had a previous fall over her dog in 2012 or that she had three falls in total in 2014.

She agreed she had one other fall in 2014 when she missed a step in a garage. She said she suffered from blurred vision in one eye.

She claims the pet store fall seriously affected her life including acting as a carer, walking to the shops and she could no longer do mountain walking in Co Mayo as she had done before the accident.

Her son, Adam, who accompanied his mother to the store, said he was “100% sure” she did not trip over the dog. He said he had the dog on a lead and it had just been taken off a table in the groomers when he saw his mother fall.

The case continues before Mr Justice Tony O’Connor.