DOG BITES FACE OF CONNECTICUT CONCERT PIANIST
Tragically, at our Stamford, Connecticut personal injury law firm, we encounter all-to-many dog bite injuries. Our client “Lara,” her husband, and their son arrived at the Defendants' new home for a housewarming party. The Defendants were former neighbors who owned a two-year-old ninety-pound Swiss mountain dog named Mercy. At the conclusion of the meal, Lara got up from the dinner table, and knelt down to pet Mercy. But while Lara was rising from her kneeling position, Mercy suddenly lunged up at her face with teeth bared, opened her mouth and clamped down on Lara’s chin, the dog’s fangs penetrating her lower lip and through the soft tissue of the lower jaw, down to the bone. When Mercy released her hold, the guests saw Lara clutch her face in agony and heard her screams of pain and shock.
At the time of the attack, Lara,” a world-renowned concert pianist, lived in Connecticut with her husband, her twelve-year-old son, and their three dogs. She was looking forward to her return to Russia to perform at the International Festival of Contemporary Music in Moscow.
As a result of the attack, Lara suffered severe wounds to her chin, lower lip and gingival tissue of her lower jaw. She underwent surgery at the hospital, but when the bandages were removed and she first saw herself in the mirror, she was struck by the grim reality that her face would never look the same. The sorrow and pain she felt quickly turned to fear as she contemplated the effect her appearance might have on her career. While it is the pianist’s hands that make the music, it is, after all, her face that the audience sees.
In the hope of restoring her appearance, she consulted with two plastic surgeons who recommended that she undergo further surgery. But this could not be accomplished until a year had passed. Lara bravely attended the Moscow concert, taking care to display only her right profile to the cameras and the audience. Performing since the age of fourteen, she hadn’t felt embarrassment on stage until then. But it was the constant questions about her face from friends and strangers, both at home and abroad, that was most disturbing. With each inquiry, she was forced to relive the terror of the attack.
Lara consulted with Dr. Barry Zide, a prominent New York plastic surgeon and underwent a , followed by a surgical dermabrasion and lip reduction, with an excellent result.
Connecticut General Statutes § 22-357 imposes responsibility on the owner or keeper of a dog if the injured party did not provoke the dog by teasing, tormenting or abusing the animal. Unlike claims for most other personal injuries, carelessness of the owners need not be proven to recover compensation. During mediation of this case, in which the dog bit the concert pianist, the insurance company for the dog’s owners met our demands and the case was settled.
