On May 18, 2013, plaintiff Ava Flores, 7, was at the Fresno residence of her grandmother, plaintiff Mary Flores, a retired 68 year old. While there, a German Shepard/Malinois dog leapt over the fence and attacked Ava beside her grandmother’s pool. Ava was subsequently bitten and scratched, and the dog clamped down on her leg with its jaws. The unrelenting dog then continued to attack until Ava’s grandmother ran around the pool, grabbed the dog, and exerted substantial effort just to get it to break its grip on Ava’s thigh. Mary Flores sustained to her hip, while Ava sustained to her hand, leg, knee and abdomen. Ava, by and through her guardian ad litem, Nancy Flores, and Mary Flores, individually, sued the dog’s owner, Marc Sotelo. Ava and Mary Flores contended that the attack was entirely unprovoked., Ava sustained dog bite and puncture wounds to her right, upper leg, knee, and lower abdomen, as well as minor avulsions to her hands and torso. She was subsequently taken by ambulance to Community Regional Medical Center, in Fresno, where she underwent surgery that day. The surgeon ultimately sutured approximately 28-centimeters worth of open wounds. The plaintiffs’ medical expert, a Fresno plastic surgeon, noted that, specifically, Ava had several small linear excoriations over the abdomen and three linear transverse lacerations deep into the subcutaneous tissue of the upper right thigh with bulging fat. Ava had no injury to the major neurovascular structures in the right, upper thigh area, but she had small lacerations of the right lateral knee and hands. As expected, Ava developed significant scarring in the locations of the bites and lacerations. During the intervening two years, her parents have allowed virtually zero sun exposure to the wound areas, as per the doctor’s orders. Ava now wears bicycle shorts when she swims to cover her scars, and sunscreen is used to prevent the negative impacts of the sun rays. The plaintiffs’ expert plastic surgeon measured a total of 35.5-centimeters worth of scarring as a result of the dog attack. She stated that “More than half of the scars are wide or depressed,” and that Ava “could benefit from scar revision in the form of excision and reclosure.” The expert also stated that she would not recommend that Ava undergo any revision surgeries. She explained that while a revision might narrow the widest scars somewhat, it would do little to make them less visible. She also explained that revision surgery would carry the risk of worsening the look of the scars, and would require an additional year or two of zero sun exposure. Thus, the most likely scenario is that the scars are simply permanent and will be with Ava for many, many years, throughout the remainder of her life. Ava experienced substantial psychological trauma as a result of the attack. Her parents described the repeated nightmares their daughter had in the first six months following the attack and a change in her affection during much of that period. They also claimed that Ava continues to suffer anxiety around the subject of the dog attack. In addition, they claimed that Ava suffers embarrassment and humiliation when her scars can seen by others and that this is likely to continue as Ava ages. Plaintiffs’ counsel noted that Ava’s past medical costs totaled $46,877.54 Mary Flores claimed that, during the course of struggling with the dog, she suffered scratches and abrasions, as well as a torn labrum in her right hip. An MRI was performed and was positive for tears of the right anterior labrum and gluteus minimus tendon. Mary Flores claimed that her psychological have actually been more severe than her physical . She alleged that she was quite traumatized both by observing the to Ava and by having to fight the dog. She has been seen by the plaintiffs’ treating clinical psychologist, who diagnosed her as having symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Mary Flores claimed that she is still unable to spend time in her backyard because of the anxiety it provokes and that as a result, she and her husband are considering selling their home to move away from the incident scene and the continued presence of dogs at the Sotelo home. Plaintiffs’ counsel noted that Mary Flores’ past medical costs totaled $1,579.01.