Tort; liability for animals; animals that are wild by nature.
Facts: Mr Behrens, who was only 75 cm tall, performed in the Bertram Mills Circus as 'the smallest man on earth'. Ms Behrens played the music for her husband's act. One day, the circus elephant Bullu became annoyed by the circus manager's barking dog. Chasing after the dog, the elephant knocked over the booth where Mr and Ms Behrens were, injuring them as a result. They sued the circus for damages, relying in part on the circus's presumed knowledge of the danger posed by wild animals.
Issue: For the purposes of establishing the liability of the circus, was Bullu a wild or a tame animal?
Decision: The court held that in this case the directors had not been fraudulent, although they might have been negligent.
Reason: The court held that, because Derry had honestly believed that obtaining the necessary permission was only a formality, there had been no fraud. Lord Herschell said (at 374):
"[I]n order to sustain an action of deceit, there must be proof of fraud … [F]raud is proved when it is shewn that a false representation has been made (1) knowingly, or (2) without belief in its truth, or (3) recklessly, careless whether it be true or false … To prevent a false statement being fraudulent, there must, I think, always be an honest belief in its truth."