TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A Pierce County jury has awarded $2.2 million to a Gig Harbor woman mauled by two pit bulls that entered her home through an open sliding-glass door.
The News Tribune of Tacoma reports (http://bit.ly/qrJAv6) that jurors assigned nearly half of the blame to Pierce County, which will have to pay about $924,000. The dogs’ owners must pay the rest.
Sue Gorman suffered bites to her arms, face, neck, chest and nose during the 2007 attack and was briefly hospitalized. The pit bulls also attacked Gorman’s service dog and killed a neighbor’s terrier.
Gorman’s attorneys argued that the county was partially liable because neighbors, including Gorman, had filed numerous complaints about the pit bulls running loose and terrorizing people, and the dogs should have been confiscated.
