Emily Moncur, a volunteer at the Orange County Animal Care facility in Tustin, had just finished photographing a large dog and was putting it back in its kennel when the animal turned on her.
The dog, named Blaze, bit Moncur 18 times, mauling her so badly that she lost consciousness and suffered what her attorney called “extremely serious injuries, physically and psychologically.”
Her screams went unheard and only inflamed the animal, alleges a negligence lawsuit filed Aug. 18 against the county by Moncur, 45.
She alleged shelter supervisors left her alone with the dog — a black-and-white mixture of Labrador retriever and beagle — without any safeguards or warnings about its propensity for violence.
“The key here is about ensuring there is accountability by Orange County Animal Care,” said Moncur’s attorney, John Montevideo, at the Dog Bite Law Group in Irvine. “This is a story about a preventable incident caused by a dereliction of duties that unnecessarily increased the risks of working with neglected dogs in Orange County.”
Moncur is seeking unspecified damages.
A county spokesperson declined to comment on the pending litigation.
The shelter serves 14 cities and the unincorporated areas of the county, taking in 1,435 animals in July alone, said the agency’s website.
WARNING: The photos below are potentially graphic.
According to the lawsuit, Moncur was at the shelter on Aug. 21, 2023, photographing dogs for the facility. She had photographed 14 that day and went on to take pictures of Blaze. While attempting to put him back in his kennel, Moncur says, she was attacked by the dog, which bit her on the arms, legs, buttocks and neck.
Moncur was pinned to the door of the kennel, unable to release herself from the dog’s grip, the suit said.
The suit alleges the county shelter failed to identify dogs that could be a danger to staff or volunteers.
The county “knew or had reason to know that Blaze had dangerous propensities and posed a severe risk to people at the shelter,” said the lawsuit.
Moncur was never given any training or instruction on what to do during a dog attack at the shelter, which lacked safety measures, said the suit. For instance, the shelter had limited staff, volunteers were required to work alone with dogs and workers were encouraged to wear earplugs, making it harder to hear colleagues’ cries for help.
The suit added that Moncur was not taught how to unleash a dog while returning it to the kennel, where the animal often doesn’t want to go.
Moncur’s injuries could have been reduced if she had not been alone or if help had arrived sooner, the suit said. Instead, her screams and attempts to pull away only aroused the animal, increasing its strength.
Moncur struggled for seven minutes, dragging Blaze — who was locked on her arm — to the front of the facility in search of help.
“Had she merely been bitten and had emergency aid arrived in a reasonable time to remove Blaze, her damage would have been limited to a relatively minor flesh wound,” the suit said.
“Plaintiff specifically never contemplated or assumed the risk of having a large dog latched on to her arm, almost tearing the arm off, for over seven minutes while screaming for help, with no one in the vicinity to help her remove the dog from her arm as it bitthrough bone and arteries,” the suit says.
