A jury determined that the city of Los Angeles was 62.5% liable in the incident
Credit: Google Maps
NEED TO KNOW
- Genice Horta, 51, was awarded $5.4 million by a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury following a 10-day trial
- In her lawsuit, she claimed that she was hired to transport a dog from the East Valley Animal Shelter in L.A. to Arizona and had not been warned the dog previously injured others
- After attempting to give the dog a treat containing trazodone, the dog attacked her, severely injuring her right arm
A woman who was injured after getting mauled by a dog at an animal shelter in Los Angeles has been awarded millions of dollars in damages.
Genice Horta, 51, was awarded $5.4 million by a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury following a 10-day trial, over three years after she filed a lawsuit claiming that she was attacked by an animal shelter dog who had a history of injuring others, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Horta alleged in her lawsuit, per the L.A. Times, that she should have been warned about the dog — a Belgian Malinois named Maximus — by East Valley Animal Shelter or the rescue group she worked for.
The incident unfolded on Sept. 23, 2020, when Horta was hired by the HIT Living Foundation to drive Maximus from the East Valley Animal Shelter to Arizona, per the L.A. Times. She said that she was informed by a shelter employee that Maximus had “kennel anxiety,” and she offered it a treat containing trazodone, a common anxiety medication for dogs.
Credit: Google Maps
Maximus took the treat and then lunged and latched onto Horta’s right hand and arm, severely injuring her. She noted that she had to undergo six surgeries to repair the damage done to the bones and nerves in her right arm, and she sustained permanent damage from the incident, according to the lawsuit obtained by the L.A. Times.
The shelter employee reportedly testified in court that he had warned Horta not to approach the dog with the treat, and he was seen in video played in court trying to restrain the dog with a cable looped around the canine’s neck.
Horta claimed in her lawsuit that the shelter employee failed to control Maximus or warn her that the dog was dangerous — as he had previously sent a teenager and a shelter employee to the hospital after biting them, per the L.A. Times. It is required by California state law that city animal shelters notify potential adopters that a dog had bitten or seriously injured someone.
Her attorneys also noted that the dog was documented by the shelter as having been seen “viciously biting and snapping at people walking past his enclosure,” and one employee wrote the warning “USE EXTREME CAUTION!!!” when discussing the dog.
Horta’s case “revealed a series of serious and preventable mistakes made with respect to warning about Maximus’ bite history and adopting out and failing to control a dangerous dog,” Horta’s attorney, Ivan Puchalt, told the L.A. Times in a statement.
The L.A. County Superior Court jury reportedly determined that the city of Los Angeles was 62.5% liable, the rescue group was 25% liable and Horta was 12.5% liable.
Credit: Getty
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Puchalt and the L.A. Animal Services, which oversees animal shelters in Los Angeles, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the case.
According to the L.A. Times, this is the third case in which a person won a payout after alleging that an L.A. animal shelter failed to notify people of the dangers of certain dogs.
Kristin Wright, was previously awarded $3.25 million after claiming that she was severely injured by a pit bull she adopted from a South L.A. shelter that had injured its last owner. Argelia Alvarado also received a $7.5 million settlement after she was attacked by a pit bull that her son adopted from a city animal shelter that had previously attacked a jogger, per the L.A. Times.
Read the full article here
