Augsburger v. Homestead Mutual Insurance Company, et al., No. 2012AP641, 2013 Wisc. App. LEXIS 705 (Wisc. Ct. App. Aug. 28, 2013)

(plaintiff injured in dog attack while visiting friend at home/property owned, but not occupied, by friend's father; friend lived in home rent-free and knew that daughter had dogs and had disciplined them on prior occasion and could have told daughter to not have dogs on the premises; trial court found father strictly liable for damages attributable to plaintiff's injuries as statutory "owner" of the dogs as a "harborer" of the dogs under Wis. Stat. Sec. 174.001(5) which subjects an owner of a dog to strict liability and defines an "owner" as "any person who owns, harbors, or keeps a dog"; on appeal, father asserted he was not an "owner" because he did not have custody over or care for the dogs and did not personally reside in home or on property where dogs resided; appellate court affirmed on basis that "harbor" in statute means to give lodging or to give shelter or refuge to dog and lacks the proprietary aspect of keeping a dog; father provided shelter and lodging for dogs and, thus, harbored the dogs).