South Dakota Jury Awards $34K to Girl Bitten by Dog

A Brookings County, South Dakota, jury has awarded a girl more than $34,000 after she was attacked by a dog that had been declared vicious by county authorities twice before.

The Argus Leader reports the award consists of $29,208 in compensatory damages and $5,000 in punitive damages from the dog’s owner, Doyle Johnson, who is the mayor of Sinai.

The girl was 12 when she was attacked in March 2015 by an English setter who bit her multiple times and left 17 wounds that put her in the hospital.

The girl’s attorney says he thinks she deserves far more damages than what the jury awarded.

Johnson says he feels the outcome is fair. He says the dog has been euthanized.