Dog owners file lawsuits against Macon attorney
Dog owners filed two lawsuits against a Macon attorney this week stemming from episodes involving pets at the attorney's north Macon home.
Jody and Julie Long of Macon filed suit against Veronica Brinson on Tuesday, two years after pit bulls owned by Brinson's sons allegedly attacked the Longs' basset hound and Jody Long, according to Bibb County Superior Court records.
The suit also named Brinson's sons, Ryan and Bryant Brinson, and another man living at the home, Alfred Allen, as defendants.
The Longs are seeking compensation for $18,220 in medical expenses -- which include Jody Long's rounds of rabies shots after he was bitten -- as well as for pain and suffering, disfigurement and scarring, mental anguish, veterinarian expenses and other damages, according to the complaint.
The other lawsuit, filed in Bibb County State Court Tuesday by Claudia Naranjo, alleges that three pit bulls from Brinson's home attacked her small dog on Dec. 29, 2014. Naranjo, like Jody Long, said she was bitten while trying to protect her pet.
Naranjo's dog was killed, according to the suit, which named Veronica and Ryan Brinson as defendants.
Naranjo, a Miami resident who was visiting Macon at the time, is seeking compensation for more than $20,000 in medical bills and other damages.
Contacted Thursday, Brinson declined comment on the lawsuits.
The pit bulls were deemed dangerous dogs in a March 2015 Macon-Bibb County Board of Health vote, meaning that the dogs must be kept under tighter control and have insurance. A notice of appeal has been filed in Bibb County Probate Court over that ruling.
Brinson also has a case pending in the Georgia Supreme Court, where she's appealing a 2014 ruling that she was in contempt of court by continuing to file documents in a client's case after a judge instructed her not to.
She's representing herself in the Supreme Court case.
To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398 or find her on Twitter@awomackmacon.
This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Dog owners file lawsuits against Macon attorney ."