sandgrubber Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 (edited) http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-cesar-milan-pit-bull-lawsuit-20150204-story.html Cesar Millan, the star of television’s "The Dog Whisperer," is being sued by a woman who claims she was attacked by a vicious pit bull that had been prematurely released by Millan's dog training center. The woman, a critical care nurse in Florida, claims she suffered "disfiguring open wounds, deep muscle and tendon lacerations" and bone fractures in the Sept. 23, 2014, attack, just six days after the dog had been released by Millan's Dog Psychology Center. Attorneys for Alison Bitney said in the complaint that she permanently lost feeling and function in her left hand after the attack at the dog owner's home in Santa Clarita. She is seeking punitive damages. Jen Woodard, the director of the Dog Psychology Center, said in a statement that Millan never had contact with the dog and never trained the animal. She said the dog's owner had removed the pit bull "against the strong advice and objection of his trainer." After the attack, the pit bull was returned to this center where it was placed in quarantine, Woodard said. This is not the first time the training facility has been at the center of a lawsuit against Millan. In 2006, a television producer sued Millan and claimed his dog was injured after being suffocated by a choke collar and forced to run on a treadmill at the training facility. But this time Millan and his center is being accused of negligence for prematurely releasing a pit bull with a known history of attacking people and other animals. The canine, named Gus, was seized and impounded in Texas in 2013 and was found to be a danger to the public and ordered destroyed, according to the complaint. Thereafter, Cesar Millan and his Dog Psychology Center, agreed to take over custody and control of the pit bull and not to release it until it was "fully deemed a safe member of society," the complaint said. "When the dog's owner fell behind on monthly payments to keep it housed at the Dog Psychology Center, the center prematurely released the known vicious and dangerous pit bull back into the public domain and entrusted it to someone with no training or experience in the handling of vicious and dangerous dogs," the complaint said. Attorneys also contend that the director and head trainer at the Dog Psychology Center acknowledged that the pit bull was "not ready to be released to a home environment" and needed an additional 18 months of rehabilitation. Edited February 5, 2015 by sandgrubber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffyluv Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Why isn't she suing the owner??? Oh the owner probably has no money to pay her out!!! I don't necessarily agree with what CM does but he does solve some problems for some people (probably not with all dogs, they usually only show the ones that work - it is a business after all).. But suing a trainer, who said not to take the dog out yet but the owner still did.. I hope it gets thrown out of court. She wakes up and goes after the person responsible - the owner. The owner does the right thing and pays her medical bills in the very least. The dog should be PTS.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simply Grand Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Absolutely dog should be PTS! A year (2013 - sep 2014) at the Centre presumably being worked with and still attacked like this? And think another 18 months will make it fine? I don't think so. Someone needs to make the call that this is not a dog that should be saved. I'm not sure I blame the woman for suing Cesar, worth trying, particularly if the owner doesn't have the money to cover her costs, rehab and lost future income, which seeing as they could no longer afford to pay the dog's Centre fees they probably didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melzawelza Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Sounds like everyone did the wrong thing by not putting this dog to sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Its her dog. Ultimately her responsibility IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YOLO Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 She said the dog's owner had removed the pit bull "against the strong advice and objection of his trainer." After the attack, the pit bull was returned to this center where it was placed in quarantine, Woodard said. Sorry, but this is why rednecks should not be allowed to own guns or dogs. The saddest thing is that it was completely preventable, if somebody just had half a brain and stopped listening to the "Pit Bulls make wonderful family pets" brigade. I love dogs, but I don't believe that "ALL dogs are wonderful," any more than all animals are "wonderful," or "all people are wonderful." Destroy the dog, stop idiots breeding them, and the problem goes away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melzawelza Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 She said the dog's owner had removed the pit bull "against the strong advice and objection of his trainer." After the attack, the pit bull was returned to this center where it was placed in quarantine, Woodard said. Sorry, but this is why rednecks should not be allowed to own guns or dogs. The saddest thing is that it was completely preventable, if somebody just had half a brain and stopped listening to the "Pit Bulls make wonderful family pets" brigade. I love dogs, but I don't believe that "ALL dogs are wonderful," any more than all animals are "wonderful," or "all people are wonderful." Destroy the dog, stop idiots breeding them, and the problem goes away. It's not a brigade, it's factual studies and empirical evidence. You've shown yourself to value neither. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 It's the equivalent of me taking my car to the mechanic and he says " it's not roadworthy" I say I can't afford to fix it, drive off, have a crash and the person I injure sues the mechanic. Comes down to people, property, choices and personal responsibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melzawelza Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 It's the equivalent of me taking my car to the mechanic and he says " it's not roadworthy" I say I can't afford to fix it, drive off, have a crash and the person I injure sues the mechanic. Comes down to people, property, choices and personal responsibility. Nice analogy, I agree. The only catch may be where it says there was some agreement that the center wouldn't release the dog until it was safe. That agreement may not be binding and may not allow them to refuse the owner if they wanted to collect the dog, but if it did then potentially some blame may lie with the center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha bet Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Its her dog. Ultimately her responsibility IMO. Actually read this story elsewhere from an american link - it was not her dog... she was visiting a friend who had the dog... she was unaware the dog was a danger as she didn't know the history... she is not just suing the Dog Psychology Centre but also the owner of the dog, Caesar Milan himself and the original Rescue Group. Note that this dog has previously attacked and the courts had sentenced the dog to be put down, but a rescue group intervened and then attempted to rehabilitate. The Dog Psychology Centre had agreed to take the dog and not to release the dog until it was deemed safe. Sounds as if there is a case to be looked into..... www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2941400/Dog-Whisperer-star-Cesar-Millan-sued-Florida-nurse-savagely-attacked-pit-bull-left-training-center-just-days-earlier.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juice Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 This dog should have been pts a long time ago, not everything should be saved. If there was an order that it shouldn't be released till it was safe there is a case to answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan3 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I suppose it will depend on what representation Cesar's business made as to whether they will be successful in suing him or not. Without knowing it's hard to comment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 The US isn't as into Tall Poppy Syndrome as Oz . . . .but CM has done a good job of setting himself up as a tall poppy. He may or may not get out of this one, but my guess is he'll eventually get zapped bigtime. Sad. There is much to admire about the guy. But there's also a lot of snake oil salesman. Miraculous cures are not common in dog training. Uncured aggression is dangerous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Sounds to me like no one knows the accurate facts about this dog & what was done with it or what agreements were made.The only accurate fact is that it attacked the lady. The USA is the land of sue them all, anyone will do, in many cases so I am not sure what I think about all this except dog needs to be PTS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankdog Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 The dog was originally surrendered in Texas, it savaged a trainer and was then due to be euthed. Released to dog psychology center with the help of some rescue group but then moved out of state where it attacked again. I believe it's similar here, the dangerous dog status diesnt go with the dog interstate? There was a Qld dog that got moved across the border last year by its owners for the same reason. Silliness really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stressmagnet Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Well I note that the FB page that was all about "please help this cuddly squishy faced misunderstood dog " has been very quiet. The original owner sounds like a complete ignoramus who treated her dog like a small human being instead of an animal. To anyone who feels like flaming me: Whilst I love Ernie and he is a part of my family, he is not a small child but a dog. I've also owned an AmStaff and adore the breed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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