Woman badly injured in dog attack at California animal shelter awarded $5.4 million by jury

A woman who sued after being attacked by a Belgian Malinois as she tried to give the dog a treat while preparing to transport it from a San Fernando Valley shelter has been awarded more than $5.4 million by a jury.

Genice Horta was getting ready to transport the dog, Maximus, from the East Valley Animal Shelter to Arizona to an animal rescue location, but was never told about Maximus’ bite history, which included biting a child and a shelter employee. She was attacked by Maximus in the shelter parking lot, resulting in permanent injuries.

A jury awarded Horta more than $5.4 million in damages in a late February verdict.

The city of Los Angeles was found responsible for 62.5% of Horta’s harm, the HIT Living Foundation and individuals Heather Crowe and Alix Novak were found responsible for 25% of her harm. Horta was found responsible for 12.5% of her harm.

Horta was hired by the HIT Living Foundation to transport the dog from the shelter to Arizona in September 2020, but wasn’t advised of his bite history or any previous behavior, according to the complaint. Horta was told the dog had kennel anxiety, so she brought a treat with a sedative for the drive to Arizona.

The HIT Living Foundation’s founder, Heather Crowe, facilitated Maximus being pulled from the shelter on behalf of a rescue organization in Arizona, Pampering Pets Rescue and Novak, where Maximus was set to be transported to, the foundation said.

“As a California-based rescue and New Hope Partner with LA Animal Services, HIT Living formally requested and completed the pull, at which point ownership transferred to our organization. HIT Living’s involvement was limited to facilitating the dog’s release so he could be transferred to Pampering Pets,” according to a statement from the foundation.

The foundation says they were found partially liable due to technical ownership and clarified that no one from their organization ever had physical custody of Maximus. HIT Living foundation expressed sadness and empathy for Horta.

“Pampering Pets independently hired and arranged for a third-party transporter to pick up the dog directly from the shelter. HIT Living did not hire, select, or supervise the transporter and was not present at the time of the incident. The dog had a documented bite history, and we reasonably believed the receiving rescue and its contracted professionals would be fully informed and follow standard safety protocols,” the foundation said.

When Horta gave the treat to Maximus, he attacked her without warning, permanently injuring her arm. Horta needed nine surgeries, including grafts, and suffered other physical and emotional injuries, according to the filing. She was never given paperwork or a verbal warning about the dog’s behavior when he was brought out to her van by a shelter employee.

In a complaint, initially filed in 2022, Horta’s lawyers argued that the shelter knew or had reason to know that Maximus was dangerous, but did not document his “dangerous propensities” correctly.

The filing details the dog’s bite history. Maximus was surrendered to the shelter by his owner after he bit a child, breaking skin and “causing serious injuries” and once he was in the shelter, he bit and seriously injured an employee, according to the complaint.

If she had known about Maximus’ behavior and bite history, she would have requested he be placed in and taken out of her transport van by a shelter or rescue employee, or refused to do that transport, according to her complaint.

Horta “was not in the business of personally handling and interacting with dangerous and aggressive dogs with bite histories, and therefore being bit by aggressive dogs was not a risk she assumed as part of her profession as a transporter,” the complaint argued.

Maximus was on red alert in the shelter, but was allowed to be adopted by a partner from the “New Hope” list, which is comprised of rescue organizations.

California law requires an animal shelter or rescue group to disclose the dog’s bite history and get a signed acknowledgement of that information to anyone that a dog is released to, if the dog has bitten and broken the skin of a person after the age of 4 months. Neither was done, according to Horta’s complaint.

“LA Animal Services’ mission is to protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of animals and people in the City of Los Angeles. The Department’s Dog Bite and Behavior Documentation and Disclosure policy requires that staff must provide a bite and behavioral disclosure to any person receiving an animal with a prior bite history,” a spokesperson for Los Angeles Animal Services said in a statement.