NEW JERSEY -- A service dog accused of biting the nose of a 6-year-old neighbor last month will be banished from the township under a settlement agreement reached Tuesday between the girl’s parents and the dog’s owners.The dog, a 14-month-old German Shepherd named Ava, lived with a 9-year-old cancer patient, Molly Kimball, and her family, and has been trained to steady Molly whenever she shows signs of dizziness — a symptom caused by tumors inside her brain.
In an incident in March, Ava allegedly lunged at Isabelle Gernhardt, 6, who lives next door to Molly and her parents, Paul and Patricia. The dog bit Isabelle’s face, and she sustained a large gash that runs from her forehead down the bridge of her nose. It took more than 100 stitches to close the wound.
Molly sobbed inconsolably during a hearing in Municipal Court in River Vale on Tuesday as her father stroked her back and her hair. The resolution calls for the dog to be removed on Wednesday morning from a private shelter in River Vale, where it has been staying since the attack.
For now, Ava will stay with friends of the Kimballs’ in Edgewater.
With the matter resolved, Municipal Judge Richard Greenhalgh did not have to determine whether Ava is a vicious animal.
The judge did note that the language of the settlement agreement did not preclude the Gernhardts from pursuing civil action against the Kimballs. Evan Baker, the attorney who represented the Gernhardts, said a lawsuit would be filed to recoup medical expenses resulting from the bite.
Doug Anton, an attorney who represents Molly’s parents, claims Ava never showed signs of aggression before Isabelle was injured.
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| It is outrageous that the dog's owners try to mitigate the damage done by their dog, saying the collar forced the dog to close its mouth around the child's face |
Anton said Ava was leashed at the time, but was playing a game of hide-and-seek with Isabelle. When the dog tried to playfully lick Isabelle’s face, he said, “the choker collar caused a restriction on the neck that causes the mouth to close.”
Isabelle’s mother, Elizabeth Gernhardt, said the dog nicked her son’s face last fall, and that her daughter was not playing with Ava.
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| Owners must never forget that their dog is an animal and you can never predict its behavior |
“She has never played with that dog,” Gernhardt said. Ava, she said, “was unleashed and trespassed on our property. My daughter didn’t make any sudden moves. She won’t even pet the dog.”
Isabelle will undergo a number of operations to repair the damage and is in counseling for post-traumatic stress, her mother said. She did not call for the dog to be put down, but insisted that the animal not return to her neighborhood.
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| Little Isabelle heading to court |
The incident has put a strain on what was an otherwise friendly relationship with her neighbors, Gernhardt said.
(The Record - April 26, 2011)
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