Dog Bites

Published on: August 23, 2012

Plastic Surgeons Able To Restore Girl’s Face After Dog Attack

4uMOu.St.56.jpeg Eleven-year old Jacklyn Tanner went over to her friend’s house of a sleepover and became the victim of a brutal attack by her friend’s family dog. Jacklyn was watching a movie with her friend when she rolled off the couch. As she tried to get up, the family’s dog, a male English bulldog and Jack Russell terrier mix, attacked her, tearing off her top lip and ripping the skin up to her left nostril, leaving her teeth and gums visible. A portion of her lip was left laying on the floor.

Jacklyn was rushed to the St. Mary’s Medical Center emergency room via helicopter, where she underwent emergency reconstructive surgery. The surgeon, Dr. David Rankin tried to look for blood vessels to reconnect the piece of her lip that had been ripped off but was unable to restore the blood supply to the area. Jacklyn was then taken to Joe DiMaggio’s Children’s Hospital for plastic surgery.

At Children’s Hospital, two surgeons were able to complete an abbe flap procedure, in which they took a piece of Jacklyn’s lower lip and used to replace the missing part of her upper lip. This is a common procedure for patients with cleft lips. Jacklyn can only eat with a straw for the next three weeks while her lips remain sewed together. She will undergo two more surgeries but surgeons believe her lip should heal and she will not need any other operations in the near future. Jacklyn is still unable to speak, but is spending her recovery time texting her friends and writing.

Surgery at Hollywood hospital restores girl’s torn lip, www.miamiherald.com August 14, 2012.

Published on: June 4, 2012

Florida Insurance Companies Pay Over $5 Million For Dog Bite Claims

by Friedland | Carmona

State Farm Insurance, one of the largest insurance companies in the United States, paid out over $109 million for about 3,800 dog bite claims last year alone. This amount is up almost $20 million from the $90 million paid out for claims in 2010. National surveyor, the Insurance Information Institute, estimated that $413 million was paid out in 2010 by all the insurance companies and that $479 million was paid out collectively in 2011.

Of the 4.7 million yearly dog bite victims, almost 3 million of the victims are children, with about 800,000 people seeking medical treatment for their dog bite injury. Following children and senior citizens, who represent the largest populations to be injured by dog bites, are letter carriers, with about 5,600 U.S. Postal Service carriers being attacked each year. According to the Postal Service, medical expenses from dog bite attacks cost over $1 million last year.

On the “Top 10 States for Dog Bite Claims” list, Florida sits at number 7, with State Farm paying out $5.6 million in 2011 alone. The national average cost per claims for a dog bite was $28,799 in 2011. However, the average cost per Florida claim in 2011 was $38,400. Florida had over 140 claims in 2011.

Leading insurer pays $109M for dog bite claims, www.miamiherald.com May 18, 2012.

Published on: May 7, 2012

Miramar Man Suffers Injuries After Pitbull Attack

by Friedland | Carmona

Seventy-six year old Walter Roach was out taking a walk one Wednesday morning in his Miramar neighborhood when he was attacked by his neighbor’s pit bulls. As Roach was walking, a larger pit bull, called “Reds” by his owner, and two pit bull puppies ran up to him and began scratching at his legs. He likened the experience to “a guy tak[ing] a machete and chop[ing] you.” Roach was taken the Memorial Hospital Pembroke where he received 24 stitches for the dog bites on his arms, legs and back. Doctors required Roach to remain at the hospital because of his age.

Roach’s neighbor, Reds’ owner, said Reds and the two other dogs somehow got loose but never would have attacked someone unless provoked. Animal Patrol came and took Reds away to place him in quarantine for the next ten days. The pit bulls’ owner was cited for three violations: one for having a loose dog, another for an animal bite causing injury and one for enclosing the dogs in inadequate fencing.

Broward County, where Roach resides, allows pit bulls as pets, while they are strictly banned in Miami-Dade County. However, Miami-Dade voters will vote on whether to end the pit bull ban this August. Despite being a Broward citizen, Roach “300%” supports the Miami-Dade ban.

3 pit bulls attack man in Miramar, www.local10.com May 2, 2012.

Published on: November 7, 2011

Port St. Lucie Man Dies After Attacked By Pitbull

by Friedland | Carmona

In February 2009, eighty-three year old Port St. Lucie resident Robert Klatch was riding in a gold cart, with his shih tzu, Shayna, running alongside. As Shayna was running, she was approached and attacked by a pitbull named Buddy. Klatch stopped the golf cart and trying to prevent the attack. In the process, he too was attacked by the pitbull. Less than two months later, in April 2009, Klatch was dead from the injuries sustained during the attack.

Klatch’s family has filed a wrongful death suit, claiming that Buddy was running around without a leash when he attacked Klatch. Klatch was bitten in the attack and fell out of the golf cart, and as a result, “Mr. Klatch’s health went steadily down as a result of complications from the fall,” according to his attorney. The suit lists Buddy’s owners, Harvey and Jane Cutler and Cascade at St. Lucie West Residents’ Association and Castle Management as defendants. Cascade and Castle Management have been listed because they allegedly failed to enforce the dog weight limits and leash laws within the community’s governing documents. Also listed as defendants are the Cutler’s insurance companies, the homeowner’s association and the management company.

Wrongful death suit filed over Port St. Lucie dog attack, www.tcpalm.com October 11, 2011