Dog-attack victim sues owner of the animals

Even after her neighbor's dogs nearly killed her last year, Paula Ybarra struck a conciliatory note. She expressed regret when the dogs were destroyed. She did not publicly blame their owner.

Until now.

In a Hennepin County District Court lawsuit filed Friday, Ybarra, 38, seeks damages from Thomas Mohrbacker, her friend since high school. The suit also claims the city's Animal Care and Control department failed to protect her from the dogs it had declared dangerous. She is seeking more than $50,000 for herself and two daughters who witnessed the attack.

In March 2007, Ybarra and her three young daughters gathered in Mohrbacker's back yard in northeast Minneapolis. His 60-pound pit bull named Merlin and a 150-pound American bulldog named Bobo freely wandered the house and yard.

Bobo knocked down 4-year-old Cassandra as she tried to use the bathroom. When Ybarra bent to pick her up, Merlin and Bobo attacked. Ybarra staggered out of the house with blood pouring from her neck. By the time help arrived, she wasn't breathing and barely had a pulse, the suit said.

Since then, Ybarra has incurred medical expenses of more than $225,000, her claim said. More treatment is expected for lost breathing capacity, difficulty swallowing and coughing, partial loss of speaking ability and permanent restriction from activities that might reinjure her neck.

The suit said she has lost unspecified income and faces diminished earning capacity. She also said Cassandra has suffered emotional distress from witnessing the incident, as has her daughter Adrianna, who was 9 when she saw her mother nearly bleed to death.

Earlier this year, Minneapolis tightened procedures for checking that dog owners comply with city requirements governing dangerous dogs.

Ybarra wasn't active in pushing the new restrictions and at the time said, "I have to move on. I'm not going to be a victim. I'm going to live my life."

Her lawyer, Kurtis Greenley of Lindquist & Vennum, was out of the office late Friday. He did not return a message, nor did Ybarra, Mohrbacker or city attorney Susan Segal.

Ybarra's suit faults Minneapolis for failing to protect her even though Mohrbacker's dogs had been declared dangerous. The city is required to ensure that safety measures are taken to eliminate the risk of injury, the suit said.

"Minneapolis Animal Control knew or in the exercise of due care would have known that the dangerous dogs were not properly restrained and that plaintiffs and others coming onto the Mohrbacker property were not warned by the use of postings or written warnings," the suit said.

The dogs were declared dangerous after that. Mohrbacker was required to register them as dangerous and take precautions, including posting signs.

Failure to comply, the city warned, can lead to confiscation, the suit said. Despite an "absolute" duty to confiscate the dogs after Mohrbacker failed to comply, the city didn't do so.

Mohrbacker was charged after the attack with misdemeanors for failing to register his dogs as dangerous. He was given a 90-day sentence that was stayed pending good behavior.