Mauled’ Woman Seeks $200,000 From Dog Owner

[Swiss Girl]

http://www.lenconnect.com/news/x1274034307...-from-dog-owner

More than $200,000 is being sought for an Adrian woman who was mauled by a large dog when she stopped to read a “for rent” sign outside a home in Britton in 2008.

“This is not just a dog bite case. This is multiple bites. A mauling. A vicious, unprovoked attack by a dog,” said Ann Arbor attorney Peter Davis in his opening statement to a Lenawee County Circuit Court jury on Tuesday.

Sandra Orm was not only scarred by bites on her arm, back and leg, Davis said, but left so psychologically damaged she can no longer pursue outdoor activities that had been the center of her life.

The size of the damage request is shocking, defense attorney Andrew Biscoglia of Farmington Hills told the jury. He said it is not clear that Orm was legally on defendant Robert Thomas’ property or that Orm did not provoke the dog attack.

“If you feel she was lawfully on the property, the damages do not rise to this level,” Biscoglia told the jury. “Your job is to fairly compensate the plaintiff. Your job is not to punish my client,” he said.

The Aug. 16, 2008, dog attack happened while Orm and her husband, Jerry, were driving through Britton on their way to the Cabela’s store in Dundee to restock their fishing supplies. The couple were described as avid outdoorsmen and were spending the summer at a local campground while looking for a house to rent or buy.

Sandra Orm said they stopped at Thomas’ house on Chicago Boulevard in Britton when they saw a “for rent” sign in the front lawn. She got out to read the

telephone number on the sign.

“I was writing down the telephone numbers and was turning to walk away and all of a sudden this dog came out of nowhere, from the side of the house, and attacked me,” she told the jury.

The dog, described as a German shepherd and rottweiler mix, was in a full run when it leapt toward her, she said.

She raised her left arm to protect her throat, she said.

“This dog was trying to kill me,” Sandra Orm testified.

The dog shredded the skin on her forearm and bit her on the upper arm and back before she could get back to her car. The dog was chewing on her leg as she tried to pull herself to safety, she said, when her husband kicked it away.

She is left with permanent scars and pain, Sandra Orm said. But she also has a constant fear of dogs, she said.

“Time stood still for me,” Jerry Orm said, describing what he witnessed. “There’s your wife getting attacked by a dog bigger than she is.”

Jerry Orm said his wife can no longer take part in the camping, hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities that had been central to their lives together.

“She’s turned into a little rabbit, hiding instead of being who she is,” Jerry Orm said. “To see her not do the things she likes to do anymore is tough,” he said.

Lenawee County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeffrey Johnson testified that Sandra Orm’s injuries were among the worst he has seen after investigating at least 200 dog bite complaints during his career.

Johnson said the dog had been in a kennel in the backyard but had dug under the fence and escaped. The dog was euthanized, he said, after Thomas told him he did not want it any longer.

The trial is expected to conclude today in Judge Timothy P. Pickard’s courtroom.

[sandgrubber]

I'd say that's a reasonable claim by US standards. If it's a jury trial, anything could happen. Let's hope it gets lots of publicity so people get the message that out of control vicious dogs can be expensive.

[bozzieUD]

I'd say that's a reasonable claim by US standards. If it's a jury trial, anything could happen. Let's hope it gets lots of publicity so people get the message that out of control vicious dogs can be expensive.

Couldn't agree with you anymore sandgrubber. What a shocking thing to happen.