We thus see that our lives as Torah-observant Jews must be guided by the laws of the Torah which, by their very nature, aim at distancing us from danger.
In his Sefer Hamitzvot, the Rambam bases two mitzvot (#546 and #547), one positive and one negative, on a single verse (Deuteronomy 22:8): “Ki tivneh bayit chadash ve’asita ma’akeh le’gaggecha velo tasim damim beveitecha ki yippol hanophel mimenu – If you build a new house, you shall make a fence for your roof so that you will not place blood in your house should one fall from it.”
This verse, according to the Rambam, includes a prohibition against raising a vicious dog in one’s house. In his Mishneh Torah (Hilchot Nizkei Mammon 3:7, based on Bava Kamma 15b), the Rambam writes: If a wild [i.e., non-domesticated] animal entered another person’s property and caused damage by tearing and eating a domesticated animal [i.e., cattle] or flesh, the owner of the wild animal has to pay full damages because that is how a wild animal is expected to act. However, if a dog ate small sheep or a cat ate large chickens, the attack is considered unusual (which the owner of the animal is not expected to have foreseen). Therefore, the owner is only required to pay for half the damage.
Nezek shalem, or full damage, is the amount one has to pay if the damage is a derivative of the primary damage category of shen va’regel – lit., tooth and foot, meaning the damage is considered non-violent and predictable. Half damage is assessed when the injury is a derivative of the primary damage category of keren – lit., the horn that gores, meaning the damage is a result of unexpected aggression on the part of the animal. Domesticated animals usually do not have to resort to aggression to obtain food. When they use aggression, therefore, the owner is not held fully liable since he isn’t expected to have anticipated the aggression.
It is interesting to note that the Talmud’s discussion makes no distinction between domesticated and wild animals in regards to whether a person should own them altogether. Furthermore, it is quite clear that even animals that are usually domesticated, such as dogs and cats, may at times resort to aberrational behavior that may result in the injury or death of another animal.
(To be continued)