Oct. 16 – A dog groomer who was hospitalized earlier this year after being bitten in the face by a dog outside her Grand Island business has filed a lawsuit against the neighboring business, claiming the owner was aware or should have been from the cruel practices of the animal. and violent ‘tendencies’.
In a complaint filed Aug. 1 in Erie County Superior Court, Mayra Rodriguez, owner of Glitter Paws dog grooming salon on Grand Island Boulevard, claims she suffered “severe, painful and permanent injuries” during a May 20 encounter with a shar pei called “Gucci” while under the care of The Pit Chic Training, Boarding and Municipal Shelter.
The complaint, filed by attorney Stephen C. Ciocca of the Cellino law firm, alleges that The Pit Chic and its owner, Kelli Swagel, are liable for Rodriguez’s injuries because they allowed the animal to come into contact with her despite having “knowledge of the dog’s vicious tendencies.”
The claim does not specify monetary damages and instead asks for judgment “in an amount exceeding the monetary jurisdiction limits of all lower state courts of New York.”
In an answer filed by Endell J. Osuna, an attorney with the law firm Goldberg Segalla LLP, Swagel denied all of the plaintiff’s claims while arguing that Rodriguez failed “to state a proper cause of action as to the defendants ” and that the injuries she suffered were not the result of any fault or negligence on the part of the defendants.
Osuna’s response also suggests that Rodriguez “assumed the risk associated with the activity she was engaged in” when she agreed to take the dog for a walk when Pit Chic employees requested it on the day of the incident.
Osuna declined to comment when reached by phone on Tuesday.
The Gazette previously reported that on May 20, Rodriguez agreed to come by on her day off to help The Pit Chic staff calm down the sniper who she was told had been causing them some trouble. She said she agreed to do this because she had previous experience working with the dog, having cared for him for several years, first at her previous job at PetCo and later at Glitter Paws, which is located on the same Grand Island Boulevard plaza is located as The Pit. Chic.
Swagel, whose facility is the contracted provider of animal shelter services for the city of Niagara Falls, told the newspaper that staff notified her on the day of the incident that the dog was showing obvious signs of aggression, including growling, barking and biting. the kennel. As a result, she said the staff did not feel comfortable handling the dog that morning.
“I contacted Mayra to see if she was at work that morning and explained to her that the dog was exhibiting aggressive behavior,” Swagel told the newspaper in an email in response to questions in June. “Mayra said ‘no’, but offered to come and deal with him because she knew him. I advised the owner Mayra to take him with her and that I would inform him afterwards.”
Rodriguez said she arrived and was able to help coax the animal out of its kennel before taking it for a walk. As they walked to the patio outside the plaza, Rodriguez said she heard the dog whining. When she reached out to try to comfort the dog, Rodriguez said it turned on her and began biting her, first on her cheek and then on her chest and hand.
Rodriguez said the attack stopped when an employee of The Pit Chic opened the door to the business and distracted the dog long enough for her to regain control of the animal.
Immediately after the attack, Rodriguez was taken to Kenmore Mercy Hospital in a personal vehicle driven by one of her associates. She was later transferred to Erie County Medical Center for additional treatment.
The dog “torn off” part of Rodriguez’s cheek to the point where it was hanging from her lower lip. The animal also caused two lacerations under her left eye and damage to part of her lip, cheek and jaw, as well as her chest. She also suffered what she described as “defensive wounds” to the underside of the palm, wrist and thumb of her right hand.
Rodriguez has scheduled follow-up appointments with her doctor and expects to need additional surgeries in the future as a result of her injuries.
Swagel told the newspaper in June that the dog’s owners had filled out a boarding waiver, a document asking them to disclose any “aggressive history or known behavioral issues.” She suggested that they had not made anything public at the time.
However, Swagel said the owners later disclosed information about a previous boarding where the dog was “uncomfortable” and about a previous grooming appointment where the dog “showed signs of aggression toward other dogs.”
