Gwinnett man mauled by dogs settles civil suit for $300K

Money will go toward victim’s medical bills; rehabilitation needed.

A 77-year-old man who was mauled “from head to toe” by two loose dogs has reached a $300,000 settlement in a civil suit.

Zhongkai Mao was walking near Five Forks Trickum Road on April 2 when two dogs attacked him. Drivers stopped to help pull the dogs offff Mao, but within a minute he had severe wounds on his legs, arms and head. He might have lost his leg if he had not arrived at the hospital shortly after the attack, a doctor told his daughter, Xiaohong Davis.

The dogs were surrendered to Gwinnett County Animal Welfare and euthanized after the attack, and their owner was given six citations, but not criminally charged. The lawsuit fifiled shortly after the attack claimed theowner allowed the two dogs to run free without restraints and did not prevent them from leaving her property.

Mao will likely need years of rehabilitation, according to Zagoria Law Firm, which represented himin the suit. The fifinancial settlement will go towards Mao’s medical bills. Mao was uninsured at the time of the attack because he had just moved to the U.S. from China two months earlier, Davis said.

The settlement will be paid by the owner’s insurance policy. The AJC is not naming the dog owner because she was not charged with a crime.