Woman Suing Owner Of Dog Killed By Her Dogs For $1 Million

This takes some gall. And some stupidity.

Check out the brass on this lady. After her four pit bulls snuck through the fence and massacred the neighbor’s dog, she has the chutzpah to file a lawsuit against the owner of the deceased canine. For $1 million. Like, in American money. There’s “blaming the victim” and then there’s, “ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the real question is ‘why did his head get in the way of my client’s bullet?'”

The “[insert dumb lawsuit]” story tip crosses our desks a lot, but rarely is the suit as unmoored from basic human decency as this one.

And as dumb as it is morally, it’s even dumber legally…

The plaintiff, Emerald White — the double-color name, I like it — is suing in Galveston, Texas, for a litany of physical and emotional injuries she suffered when her dogs ganged up on the neighbor dog.

Here’s White’s story, direct from the complaint:

Defendants’ dog entered and/or attempted to enter Plaintiff’s premises through a hole in the mutual fence separating the two respective properties. Plaintiff’s dogs then chased Defendants’ dog back through the fence onto Defendant’s property. When Plaintiff entered Defendants’ property to retrieve her dogs, Plaintiff was unexpectedly and viciously attacked by Defendants’ dog. Plaintiff suffered multiple serious bite and scratch type injuries requiring ongoing medical treatment. Plaintiff felt conscious pain and suffering and now suffers also from fear, anxiety and trepidation.

Sponsored

If you suffer from fear, anxiety and trepidation around dogs, maybe don’t live with four pit bulls.

At the time of the attack, Plaintiffs’ dogs attempted to protect Plaintiff and repel the unprovoked attack.

“Attempted”? The other dog is dead, so I’d say they damn well succeeded.

At all times relevant herein, Defendant, Defendant’s agents and employees, kept an animal, to wit: a beagle dog.

Hahahahahaha. White’s lawyer must be trolling her. This paragraph is structured to build to a punchline. “Oh she was horribly assaulted by this vicious creature, ‘to wit: a beagle dog.'” A vicious beagle dog. Like this one:

Sponsored

White does describe the dead dog as having “vicious and dangerous propensities abnormal to its class.” Obviously. Except for occasionally trying to murder the Red Baron, beagles are pretty docile.

You may be wondering why the owner of the particular dog who went to heaven didn’t sue the bejeezus out of White. Well, basically because he’s reasonable:

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Steve Baker, Bailey’s owner. “Everyone was telling me to sue her, but I decided not to because it won’t bring Bailey back.”

Justice had already been served since the tragedy, he said.

“The police took the action I wanted and declared those dogs dangerous and awareness was raised; so I decided to let it go,” Baker said. “Now they’re suing me for $1 million — I just can’t believe it.”

And by justice, he means:

Since the incident, White’s four dogs have been declared dangerous dogs by the city of Texas City. The dangerous dog ordinance requires the owners to obtain a secure enclosure that is at least 6 feet high with a mechanical locking device.

Each of the dogs must be registered with the city annually as a dangerous dog. The owners must post a sign in their yard alerting residents of their dangerous dogs and the owners must also have a $100,000 liability on the dogs, police have said.

Now we get to the point where White commits an egregious legal screw-up. Her dogs killed another dog, got officially declared a danger by the city, and the aggrieved owner isn’t going to parade this in front of a jury of dog lovers. Congratulations Emerald White, you’ve just hit the dog-killing lottery! Cut your losses and move on. But instead, White brings this lawsuit. Maybe her lawyer, Paul H. LaValle (a retired Texas judge), didn’t fill her in on this, but that guy who wasn’t going to sue you is now totally going to sue you. And when he does, he’s going to basically regale the jury holding a blood-soaked dog collar pointing at each tooth mark and declaring, “Here, Brutus! Here Cassius!”

Expect that counterclaim any day now, Emerald.

Check out the whole complaint on the next page.

UPDATE (11/18/14 1:11 p.m.): An astute reader notes that a year ago, the Texas Supreme Court limited damages in pet deaths to “animal’s market worth.” So in the interest of reigning in damages, the courts gave the victim less incentive to sue than the owner of the perpetrators. Sounds like a great system there.

Woman sues owners of dog killed by her pit bulls [Galveston Daily News]
Woman sues owners of dog killed by her pit bulls [SF Gate]