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Friday, March 29, 2024

Mother sues dog owner after son's attack

CHARLESTON -- A mother is suing a man after his dog attacked her son and injured him.

Gavin L. Hawk, a minor, was with his grandfather, Jerry Holbrook on Aug. 4, 2008, and went with him to purchase fresh corn from Bill Chambers, according to a complaint filed Dec. 11 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Sarah N. Maynard, Hawk's mother, claims while her son was at Chambers' property, Chambers' song, Allan Chambers, came to visit and brought his dog, a Springer Spaniel.

According to the suit, within minutes of coming to the property, the dog approached Hawk and attacked, bit and scratched him without any provocation or warning.

Maynard claims her son was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center and was suffering from swelling, scrapes on his face from the dog's teeth and four puncture wounds on his face.

Hawk returned to CAMC Aug. 7 because of inflammation, pain, swelling and drainage of the injuries, according to the suit, and was given prescription antibiotics to treat the injuries.

Maynard claims the antibiotics were known to cause gastrointestinal problems and caused her son to suffer from uncontrollable bouts of diarrhea, causing him to be unable to attend daycare for several days and unwilling to return to daycare for fear of being teased by other children. Maynard claims she had to miss several days from work to stay at home and care for her son.

According to the suit, Hawk is now afraid of dogs, including a family pet, because of the attack and has started "running and screaming for his mother and clings to her" when he sees dogs.

Maynard is seeking compensatory damages. She is being represented by Larry G. Kopelman.

The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge James C. Stucky.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 09-C-2287

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