Damages Awarded For $200,000 In Dog Bite Case

On November 6, 2006, Kathryn Peca, a 26 year old social worker with the Northeast Treatment Center, who, to make additional income, performed babysitting duties, was viciously attacked by a German Shepherd owned by a family for whom she was performing babysitting duties.  The owners of this dog, the Dragoni’s, live in Chester County, Pennsylvania and owned two German Shepherds.  Both German Shepherds were trained guard dogs.  These guard dogs were allowed to roam within the electric fenced area of the Dragoni’s property unless the Dragoni’s were expecting a visitor.  On November 6th, Kathryn Peca was scheduled to arrive for her babysitting duties at 7:00 p.m.  She arrived at approximately at approximately 6:50 p.m.  She parked in the Dragoni’s driveway.  It was dark out.  As she walked towards the back door of the Dragoni home, both German Shepherds ran at her and one of the two dogs knocked her to the ground.  The dog that knocked her to the ground, Tajh, began biting her right leg.  She suffered a linear scar on the anterior aspect of the right leg measuring 10 cm in length and 1 cm in width, a second linear scar in the same region measuring 9 cm in length and 1 cm in width.  On the posterior aspect of the right leg, she suffered a scar measuring 8 cm in length by 3 cm in width.  On the right hand, she had a small punctuate .5 cm by .5 cm scar over the ulna side of the wrist and a 1 cm by .5 cm scar over the hypothenar area.  All of the scars were determined by Dr. Chang, a year after his initial suturing and stapling, to be flat with no hypertrophy or keloid formation.  He did not recommend any further surgery or treatment for the scars because they could not be improved with additional treatment.  He deemed the scars to be permanent, but not likely to change significantly in the future.

As a result of the injury sustained, Ms. Peca received psychological treatment.  Samuel Romirowsky, Ph.D. performed an extensive psychological evaluation on April 18, 2007.  It was his opinion that Kathryn had suffered and was continuing to suffer from anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The case settled for $200,000.00 without litigation.