Bridal shop owner awarded $100,000 after her beloved Shih Tzu Lexi’s leg was severed in vicious dog attack
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A bridal shop owner has been awarded over $100,000 in damages after her beloved Shih Tzu’s leg was severed during a ‘terrifying and violent’ dog attack.
Mary Ioannidis, now 54, was taking her 11-year-old Shih Tzi Lexi for a walk in Mortdale, in Sydney’s south, in April 2020 when the dog was mauled by a large greyhound Staffordshire bull terrier.
Lexi’s front left leg was completed severed and had to be amputated while her owner suffered various lacerations and abrasion while trying to pull the dogs apart.
Ms Ioannidis has since been diagnosed with PTSD and remains traumatised by the attack five years later.
She launched proceedings in NSW District Court seeking damages under the Companion Animals Act against Melissa Carretero, the owner of the staffy cross.
Harrowing details of the vicious attack were laid bare when Judge John Catsanos SC handed down his decision on Tuesday.
The court heard how the unrestrained staffy terrier ran towards Lexi and was ‘throwing her from side to side’ as Ms Ioannidis tried desperately to pull her away.
Lexi is seen recovering after her front left paw had to be amputated after she was mauled by a large greyhound Staffordshire bull terrier in Sydney’s south
The bridal shop owner is pictured in the aftermath of the gruesome dog attack in 2020
‘He kept running back and launching at me and he just kept attacking, and he just didn’t stop. He didn’t stop, and I was falling over and trying to get on my feet,’ Ms Ioannidis was quoted as saying by Judge Catsanos.
The greyhound cross ‘ripped Lexi’s whole paw off at the joint’ and bit Ms Ioannidis ‘across the neck, her face around the chin, her arm and her legs’.
A photo supplied to Daily Mail Australia by Ms Ioannidis legal team from Shine Lawyers showed the aftermath of the attack, where she’s covered in blood.
‘The plaintiff described fingernails being completely ripped off in the chaos of the attack as she was falling over and tripping on the lead, all the time trying not to let go of Lexi,’ Judge Catsanos said in his decision.
‘By any measure, this was a violent and terrifying attack.’
The judge noted that Carretero agreed her dog had attacked Lexi, but not Ms Ioannidis.
‘In any event, I am comfortably satisfied that as well as being wounded, the plaintiff was attacked by the defendant’s dog,’ he said.
His decision also detailed the psychological impact the attack had on Ms Ioannidis.
Ms Ioannidis (pictured with Lexi) struggles to spend time outdoors after the ‘terrifying and violent’ attack on her Shih Tzu Lexi, who has since died
Lexi’s front left leg was completed severed and had to be amputated
She struggled to take Lexi for walks, suffers ongoing anxiety while outdoors and now only works at her bridal boutique, Mary Ioannidis Couture, two days a week.
‘I am nonetheless satisfied that the plaintiff has suffered some loss of earning capacity as a result of the psychological injury caused by the dog attack,’ Judge Catsanos said.
‘I find that the dog attack caused the plaintiff to suffer psychiatric injury in the form of PTSD. [Ms Ioannidis] suffers a genuine psychiatric condition as a result of the attack.’
Ms Ioannidis received $101,788.63 in damages, with Carretero ordered by the judge to pay her legal costs.
Lexi (pictured) survived the horrific attack but sadly died last September
‘Mary has suffered profound consequences as a result of this attack,’ Shine Lawyers associate Brittany Vella told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Mary and Lexi were simply out for a walk when they were set upon by an unrestrained dog – an animal which dwarfed Lexi and which would have easily killed her had it not been for Mary’s desperate efforts to save her.’
‘There’s not just the physical injuries, but long-term psychological trauma as well.’
Lexi died last September due to unknown causes.
