Dog attacks that lead to fatal injuries are always a devastating situation. When a dog-mauling death occurs, there is usually a wrongful death lawsuit that follows because someone should have been able to prevent it from occurring. Families left to mourn their lost loved one often look to find those responsible and hold them accountable. They see a lawsuit as the only way to bring attention to what happened and to ensure it does not happen to anyone else.
So is the case of Klonda Richey whose death was due to a dog-mauling. Richey died after her neighbor’s dogs outside her home on February 7, 2014. Her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the case against the dog warden at the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center. The family claims included evidence of multiple reports about these dogs to the dog warden that he did not properly follow up on or handle.
A needless death
The family maintains that had the dog warden taken the proper steps, Richey would still be alive. Richey’s siblings are currently awaiting a settlement in the case, which the Montgomery Country Commission approved for $3.5 million.
The Commission made the settlement offer with the intent to avoid a trial due to the case already being in progress for so many years. The feeling was the family did not deserve to have this continue.
Distribution of funds
Under the court’s guidance, Richey’s family will receive a little over $2 million of that settlement money for survivorship claims and for the wrongful death claim. The rest will divide between attorney fees and lawsuit expenses.
Source: Dayton Daily News
