$200,000 Settlement – Woman and Her Service Dog Viciously Attacked by Unleashed Dog

In January 2014, our client was walking her service dog in the alleyway behind her home in Perrysburg, Ohio when she and her dog were viciously attacked by another dog. As the pair made their way down the alley, the dog, belonging to the defendant, was running around loose with no owner present.

Unfortunately, our client and her dog had encountered this dog before and knew it to be aggressive, as it had already attacked our client’s dog several years earlier. In attempts to avoid another attack, our client picked up her dog. However, the defendant’s dog knocked our client to the ground and proceeded to attack her dog. Our client frantically worked to get the defendant’s dog away from hers. As a result of the fall and struggle with the dog, our client sustained serious injuries.

Due to it being a Level 3 Snow Emergency on the day of the attack, our client was unable to seek immediate medical attention for herself or her dog. Initially, she thought that she was just sore from being knocked to the ground and fighting off the defendant’s 80-pound dog. However, her pain failed to improve, causing her to seek medical attention for her arm pain, shoulder pain, headaches, and blurred vision. She was subsequently diagnosed with a tear to her right shoulder joint, a torn bicep tendon in her right arm, contusion of the eyelids, and migraines. As a result of our client’s shoulder injury, she was required to undergo a surgical repair. A day after the surgery, our client experienced a fainting spell, requiring her to return to the hospital. There, she was diagnosed with a concussion and pulmonary nodule. The heart condition required her to undergo another invasive procedure to place a pacemaker. Along with her own medical expenses, our client incurred significant costs associated with injuries to her beloved therapy dog.

Though her initial injury healed, our client struggled to recover from her surgeries and continues to experience severe numbness and tingling in her right arm and hand. She also continues to suffer from debilitating migraines. Our client, whose service dog was necessary to help her cope with anxiety and panic attacks, now suffers from increased anxiety as she fears another attack.
Our office filed suit in the Common Pleas Court of Wood County for claims of negligence. Due to a successful negotiation, we obtained a settlement for our client without her ever needing to set foot in a courtroom for trial.