Pets Personal Injury

Pets Personal Injury:  Unexpected, vicious attacks by household pets

Pets Personal Injury, Part II

Pets Personal Injury 5 | Stitches from Squirrel

When it comes to pets personal injury, most of us do not consider the idea of a squirell being a household pet.  Believ eit or not, some people do keep squirrels as pets and they can cause harm.

A Houston-area woman was forced to go to the hospital to get 11 stitches, and also treat her hand and back injuries after being attacked by her neighbor’s not-so-friendly pet squirrel that got loose.

The victim, Elizabeth Orzechowska, says she was unloading groceries from her car in her driveway when she felt something pounce, crawl up her leg and run up her back.  Orzechowska of Katy spent hours at a hospital getting stitches.

“So, I looked down and it was a squirrel.  It started running up my back, started scratching my back and biting my back.” Elizabeth Orzechowska

Orzechowska’s neighbor brought the 1-year-old squirrel, B.B., home when she was just three weeks old.

“When I pulled her from my neck she launched to my hand. I had never seen that much blood before.”

The owner has offered to pay Orzechowska’s medical bills, but she is still looking at a fine from Harris County Animal Control and a Game Warden with Texas Parks and Wildlife for bringing home the wild animal.

B.B’s owner released the squirrel into the wild to avoid being euthanized.

Pets Personal Injury 6 | Ferocious Ferret

A 5-month-old baby is recovering after being attacked by a family pet on Sunday. A 5-month-old baby is recovering after being attacked by a family pet Sunday morning. It wasn’t a dog that attacked the infant but a ferret.

“I can say, in the 25 years I’ve been here that’s a first,” said Chief PJ Duncan from the Pleasant View Volunteer Fire Department.

Video captured on the cell phone of Bill Wilson, who lives across the street from the child, showed first responders tending to the child and rolling the baby to an emergency helicopter that carried him to Monroe Carell Junior Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville.

Firefighters say the small animal attacked the 5-month-old boy, causing injuries to his face that many fear could damage sight in one of his eyes.

The Department of Children Services could get involved in this matter because a child was injured in the family’s care.

The infant suffered lacerations to his face and a serious eye injury, but was awake and alert.’ The ferret belonged to a neighbor of the victim.

It is legal to have a ferret as a pet in most states, including Tennessee. It is not legal to own a ferret in New York City and a select few states.

Pets Personal Injury 7 | Trained Monkey Mauls

Raised by Sandy Herold in Stamford, Conn., essentially from birth, Travis was thought to have been fully socialized and not pose a threat to his human masters who regarded him as one of the family.  How wrong they were.  On February 26, 2009 Travis snapped.

“He’s ripping her apart,” Sandra Herold, 70, tells dispatchers about her pet, Travis.

With the chimp squealing in the background, Herold cries out, “He’s killed my friend!”

Nash had just arrived at Herold’s house when Travis jumped on her and began biting and mauling her, causing serious injuries to her face, neck and hands, according to Stamford Police Capt. Rich Conklin. Conklin said the attack was unprovoked, but he described it as “brutal and lengthy.”

Herold was unable to pull the primate off. She then called 911 before stabbing the chimp with a butcher knife and hitting him with a shovel. Neither fazed Travis, who police said had been like a child to Herold.

This was not the first interaction his officers have had with Travis. The chimp, who was well known and liked in the community, escaped in 2003 and “wreaked havoc” on the streets of Stamford for a couple of hours, Conklin said.

Nash’s family has filed a $50 million lawsuit against Herold, saying she was negligent and reckless for lacking the ability to control “a wild animal with violent propensities.”

Herold’s attorney has argued the attack was work-related and the case should be treated as a workers’ compensation claim. Herold’s attorney, Robert Golger, provided Winfrey with a statement, saying Herold wishes Nash the best.

Earlier this month, Nash’s family filed notice with Connecticut’s Office of Claims Commissioner, asking for permission to sue the state for $150 million, saying officials failed to prevent the attack. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has said his office is reviewing the claim.

In 2012, Nash reached a $4 million settlement with the estate of Herold, who died in 2010.

Nash made a rare public appearance last month when she pleaded with the politicians to allow her to sue, a move she said would prevent future chimp attacks.

Nash’s petition to sue was denied on the basis that at the time of her attack, no statute existed that prohibited the private ownership of a chimpanzee.

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