PHILADELPHIA – An elderly Philadelphia woman claiming to have been savagely attacked by a neighbor’s German Shepherd dog has sued the dog’s owners, alleging their negligence directly led to the mauling.
Maria Scola of Philadelphia filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on June 14 versus Jason Guzik and Kelly Coolen Guzik, both also of Philadelphia.
On July 6, 2017, Scola, then 76 years old, was walking her son’s dog in front of the defendants’ residence when suddenly and without warning, the defendants’ German Shepherd escaped through an improperly-closed front door and attacked both plaintiff’s dog and herself, knocking her to the ground, the lawsuit says.
Scola accuses the defendants’ failure to secure their home’s front door, failure to maintain control of their dog, failure to take protective measures knowing their dog had expressed aggression towards other passerby and pedestrians and failure to warn those same passerby and pedestrians of the dog’s aggressive demeanor, as being tantamount to negligence.
As a result of the dog attack, Scola suffered a hematoma of the right thigh, acute post-traumatic injuries such as lumbar strain and sprain, right hip contusion, right elbow contusion, right knee contusion and various abrasions and bruises to the affected areas noted above, the suit says.
Scola adds she has incurred a total of $5,736.02 in medical expenses, consisting of payments made to a Medicare lien of $528.02, ARIA Health for $50 and Medical Rehabilitation Centers of Pennsylvania in the amount of $5,158.
For negligence, the plaintiff is seeking damages not in excess of $50,000, plus any other relief deemed appropriate by the Court.
The plaintiff is represented by Philip A. Valentino Jr. in Bensalem.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 180601617
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com