Chinese woman paralysed by falling dog sues entire building
- Husband and son have quit jobs to take care of victim, who was hit by a dog falling from a factory building
- All of the building’s tenants and its landlord have denied responsibility, and no one has admitted to owning the dog
A woman in southeast China is suing the tenants and landlord of an entire industrial plant after being paralysed from the neck down in April when a dog falling from a second-floor balcony hit her on the head.
CCTV footage circulated online shows a large cream dog falling out of the factory building in Guangzhou on to the woman, who collapses after being hit on the head. Shortly after, the dog gets up and walks away.
The 47-year-old woman and her husband, originally from Hubei province in central China, had moved to Guangzhou to earn more money for their son’s marriage fund. Since the incident in Yagangcun, in Baiyun district, they have been staying in a small hotel and the woman requires bi-weekly visits to the hospital for treatment.
Both her husband and son have quit their jobs to take care of her, because she needs to be massaged every two hours to prevent her muscles from degenerating.
“In total, our living and medical expenses are about 300,000 yuan (US$43,000) now; we just want the legal procedure to be over so we can take the compensation for her treatment,” the woman’s husband told the Guangzhou Daily newspaper.
The case was first taken to a Guangzhou lower court in August, and a court order was issued asking for people with information about the dog and its owner to come forward, yet no one has admitted to owning the dog, the newspaper reported.
A lawyer advised the woman to sue the property ownerand all the tenants of the factory. The case was heard in court for a third time last Friday, according to the newspaper report.
However, all of the tenants have denied responsibility, including the owner of the electronics plant which rents the unit that the dog fell from. The landlord said he did not use the property directly and should not be held responsible, according to Guangzhou Daily.
