Little Girl Attacked and Mauled by Pit Bull; $100,000 Settlement won by Sauter Sullivan

In September of 2010, a 2 year old girl was the victim of a dog attack and was mauled by a dangerous pit bull at a St. Louis residence. The little girl was in the care of a babysitter who took the child to a house where the homeowners owned several dogs. One of the dogs, a pit bull, attacked the toddler without warning, and without being provoked in any way. The homeowner had to fight with the dog for nearly a minute to pull the dog off the little girl.

The girl was rushed to the hospital where her injuries were tended to and she was stitched up. She is still missing part of her ear, and bears a large scar that runs from her forehead into the middle of the scalp. Due to the nature of these injuries, she cannot have surgery to correct either of these issues until she is fully grown. Christopher Geldmacher of the Sauter Sullivan law firm took on this personal injury dog bite case and represented the child against the homeowners’ insurance company. An investigation revealed that the dog had a history of a previous attack on record with Animal Control, and that after the previous attack, the homeowners had been given the option of putting the dog down or taking it back to their home. Tragically, they had opted to bring this dangerous animal back to their home, and the pit bull attacked again, seriously injuring the 2 year old girl. Mr. Geldmacher filed a claim against the homeowners’ insurance company and negotiated a settlement of $100,000.00, which was the full amount of the homeowners’ coverage. Since corrective surgeries couldn’t be performed until the girl was fully grown, a portion of the money was placed into an account to pay for future surgeries the little girl was going to need. The rest of the money was placed into a structured interest bearing settlement plan that will pay the girl periodic payments after she turns 18.