A Texas college student who was mauled by two dogs while dog-sitting for a Dallas doctor and his wife has been left ‘permanently and catastrophically disfigured’ after losing ‘most of her face below her eyes,’ according to a lawsuit.
Jacqueline Durand, a 22-year-old student at the University of Texas at Dallas, went to the home of Dr. Justin and Ashley Bishop on December 23 having been hired to dog sit while they were away.
She was assured that when she went to the home, the dogs would already be in their crates and kennels, but on the day Durand visited, the animals were allegedly left to roam around the house freely.
Durand’s lawyers say that as soon as she opened the door to their home, the dogs pounced and she was viciously mauled by Lucy, a German Shepherd mixed-breed and Bender, a pit bull mix.
After she went inside, the dogs then proceeded to maul her ‘catastrophically,’ tearing off and eating both of her ears, her nose, her lips, and most of her face below her eyes, the lawsuit states.
The attack happened one day before her 22nd birthday and just few days after she had already been to meet both dogs at their home with their owner, specifically to get to know them and their routines.
The suit argues that the situation Durand was entering was made even more dangerous by virtue of the fact the dogs were not in their kennels, as had been promised.
Durand is seeking a jury trial and compensation of more than $1 million.
Jacqueline Durand, (pictured) a 22 year-old student University of Texas at Dallas, went to the home of Dr. Justin Bishop and his wife Ashley after being hired to dog sit
A sign on the door warns: ‘Crazy Dogs. Please don’t knock or ring the bell. call or text instead.’
The attack is said to have happened at the Bishop family home, pictured, in the northwest suburbs of Dallas, Texas
‘The owner assured Jacqueline that the dogs would be crated,’ Durand’s attorney Chip Brooker said in a statement.
‘But, shortly before her first visit, the owner texted Jacqueline to tell her that she failed to crate the dogs before leaving town. A sign on the front door even warns visitors about the violent pets that live at the home.
‘Crazy Dogs. Please Don’t Knock or Ring the Bell. Call or Text Instead,’ reads the sign.
After the dogs pushed the door open, Durand claims they knocked her off balance, causing her to fall and drop her cell phone.
The dogs were allegedly so violent and bloodthirsty that they pulled all of Jacqueline’s clothes off, including her blue jeans.
The attack only ended after a neighbor heard the commotion coming from next door.
The emergency services were immediately called and Durand was taken straight to a Level 1 trauma center, equipped to handle the most serious of conditions.
During the brutal incident, the dogs attacked her entire body leaving her with hundreds of puncture wounds.
She currently remains hospitalized having undergone multiple reconstructive surgeries, with more to come.
In a January 18 Facebook post, Durand thanked people for their well-wishes from her hospital bed.
Durand (pictured) was left with hundreds of puncture wounds and remains hospitalized after undergoing multiple reconstructive surgeries, with more to go
The attack happened days after the 22-year-old met both dogs in their home with their owner to get to know them and their routine (Durand pictured before mauling)
‘I am so blessed to be surrounded by so much love and support as I go through this hard time in my life. Thank you everyone who is supporting and loving me every step of the way since the beginning! I am making good progress every single day that I’m here. Prayers are being answered! Thank you,’ she wrote
The dogs were captured and placed in the care of the City of Coppell before a municipal judge decided that both dogs should be euthanized, the suit said.
Durand is accusing Dr. Bishop and his wife of negligence for allegedly failing to control, secure and train the animals, as well as ‘failing to provide a safe environment for their invitees,’ according to the suit.
The lawsuit lays the blame directly at the Bishops who allowed the animals to remain on their property while ‘knowing they had dangerous propensities.’
It alleges the Bishops knew of the dog’s tendencies towards violence because of the ‘crazy dogs’ warning sign that was visible to anyone walking up to the front door.
‘Jacqueline will forever measure her life in terms of before and after opening that door,’ Brooker said. ‘She will be permanently disfigured for the rest of her life, and we filed this lawsuit to make sure all the responsible parties are held accountable.’
Between 2005 and 2017, there were a total of 433 deaths caused by dogs in the U.S.
Pit bulls continue to top the list of America’s most dangerous dog breeds, having been responsible for 284 fatal attacks on humans from 2005 to 2017.
The second breed on the list, Rottweilers, came a distant second with 45.