Ohio County Reaches $3.5M Settlement in Woman’s Dog Mauling Death

March 30, 2020

The estate of an Ohio woman fatally mauled by her neighbors’ dogs will receive $3.5 million to settle a lawsuit against a county and its dog warden, a newspaper reported.

The lawsuit was filed after Klonda Richey, 57, was killed outside her Dayton home by two Cane Corso mastiffs on Feb. 7, 2014. The complaint said Richey’s death was preventable had the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center and its former director been more responsive to her multiple complaints about the dogs.

Richey’s estate and attorneys involved in the lawsuit will receive the money after Montgomery County Commissioners give final approval next week, the Dayton Daily News reported.

Richey told acquaintances she had been harassed by the dogs’ owners and built a high fence to protect her and her 20 cats. Richey also told other neighbors she lived in fear of the dogs.

Records showed that before the mauling, two area agencies fielded about 60 calls and complaints related to the dog owners’ home between the end of 2011 and February 2014.

The settlement should bring “peace to the family and some closure,” said Judy Dodge, president of the Montgomery County Commissioners.

The dogs’ owners were found guilty in Dayton Municipal Court of two misdemeanor counts of failure to control the animals.

Topics Ohio

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