Dog attack spawns $1 million lawsuit by Knoxville man

Dog attack spawns $1 million lawsuit by Knoxville man

June 7, 2007

By JEFF LENNOX 
6 News Reporter

KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- The victim of a dog attack in Knoxville is striking back at the dog's owners in the form of $1 million lawsuit.

Charles Wood says the dog, an Akita, wasn't on a leash and the owners were nowhere to be found when it showed up at his home off Dutchtown Road.

He and his daughter were tossing softball the night of April 6. "We had been back there 15 to 20 minutes just tossing the ball around when these two dogs started coming around one of the houses."

The dogs came from a home about six miles away, near I-40 and Lovell Road.

At first, Wood thought the two Akitas, weren't aggressive. But he quickly found out they were.

"The dog just walked up and grabbed my glove first and then went for my hand and it's all kind of a blur from there."

Wood suffered several puncture wounds and deep cuts from the dog's bite. "I finally took my right hand and clamped it over his muzzle trying to open it up."

After breaking free, Wood rushed to the hospital. He received 40 stitches and surgery.

His life hasn't been the same since. "There's the most that I can straighten it and there's the most I can bend it," he says, opening and closing his hand.

Two months later, Wood still has flashbacks and continues his mental and physical recovery.

But now, Wood is fighting another battle. This time, it's with the dogs' owners. "It's so serious in fact that Knox County Animal Control has classified this dog as a dangerous dog," says his attorney, Greg Isaacs.

His $1 million suit is moving through the legal channels, but Wood says the battle is about more than money. "I guess there is a lesson to be learned out of all this. If you own an animal like this, I think you should take a position of responsibility with them."

6 News tried to contact the dogs' owners Thursday but they weren't home.

Knox County Animal Control has labeled the dog involved in the attack as dangerous, meaning it must be permanently locked up in a pen.