Personal Injury Law

Massachusetts Dog Attack: English Bulldog Seriously Injures 77-Year-Old Woman

By Altman & Altman

A 77-year-old Wollaston, Massachusetts woman sustained serious bite injuries when she was attacked by an English bulldog outside her home. The dog, which will be put down, belongs to a neighbor. This was the second time the animal had bitten the elderly victim.

Lee Salvucci bitten on her arms and left leg during the dog mauling. Her backyard is next to the dog owner?s yard and there is no fence separating the two properties. The dog, named Cooper, managed to attack Salvucci after chewing through its leash.

Salvucci was doing yard work when the Massachusetts dog attack happened. A neighbor helped fend the animal away.

The 77-year-old dog bite victim has called the attack ?traumatic.? There was blood all over her following the dog attack. She had just been to the hospital a couple of weeks ago after Cooper attacked her the first time.

A neighbor reports that Salvucci will likely require skin grafts for her dog bite injuries.

Neighbors say dog owner Eric Penzo has received a number of complaints about Cooper walking through Salvucci?s yard.

Dog attacks can be very traumatic for the victim and the injuries can be painful and scarring, possibly even causing nerve damage, infection, skin abscess, lymphangitis, impetigo, cellulites, bacterial tenosynovitis, rabies, physical disability, disfigurement, or death.

In Massachusetts, dog owners are held strictly liable for any injuries inflicted by a dog, regardless of whether or not any actual negligence was involved. However, the dog bite victim must prove that he or she did not provoke the animal and was not trespassing on the owner?s property.

Elderly dog attack victim recounts horror, Boston Herald, November 12, 2009

Bulldog Attacks Woman, 77, Twice, WCVB, November 11, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Who Is Liable: Owners and Keepers, Hugpug.com

Dog Bite Prevention, CDC

Full post as published by Boston Injury Lawyer Blog on November 14, 2009 (boomark / email).