New York: Woman awarded $850K after she was attacked by her friend's German Shepherd / Chow mix she was pet sitting

NEW YORK -- This dog-bites-woman story has an $850,000 kicker.

A jury recently awarded that sum to a New Jersey woman who suffered bites to her face and injured her back when her neighbor’s dog lunged at her in 2012.

Jen Reid of Denville was taking care of the neighbor’s German shepherd/chow mix when the 80-pound animal leapt up, bit her chin and sent her toppling onto her back.

“My [3-year-old] daughter was the first person who saw me when I ran home with my face ripped open,” Reid, 43, told The Post. “She’s OK now, but she was scared to death of dogs for a long time.”

Reid had to get 15 stitches and needed reconstructive surgery on her face, but that wasn’t even the worst part, she said.

She herniated two spinal discs in the fall, and has suffered ever since.

“It felt like somebody was stabbing me with a knife every time I bent over,” Reid said. “At the time of the attack, I had a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old, and I couldn’t even pick my babies up.”

Reid had to have three vertebrae fused and is still going through rounds of surgery and therapy, which has sidelined her.

“It’s changed my life completely,” she said. “I used to play soccer in college, I coached high-school lacrosse — I cannot do the things I used to be able to do.”

She sued dog owner Kevin Burdorf because the pooch had attacked before but Burdorf failed to warn her, as required by state law.

Reid won $100,000 in June 2015 for the injuries to her face. But she went back into court in a rare second trial, according to attorney Andy Fraser of the firm Laddey Clark & Ryan, which represented Reid.

A jury in February awarded Reid an additional $750,000, court documents show.

The cash will pay for ongoing medical treatment.

“I’m still being treated for my back. Even though we were awarded that amount, we haven’t received any of it yet,” Reid said, declining to reveal her to-date medical bills.

“I’m continuing every day. I’m on pain management. I’m going to need further surgeries on my back.”

Still, Reid did not let the attack sour her opinion of dogs.

“I have two boxers — 75 pounds and 80 pounds,” she said. “The one dog, we got after the attack. I’m an animal lover — just a lot more cautious now.”

(New York Post - April 26, 2017)