Girl attacked by collie dog in Limerick settles High Court action for €65,000

High Court Reporters

A little girl who it was claimed was savagely attacked and bitten by a collie dog on a Limerick farm has settled a High Court action for €65,000.

Alice Candido da Costa, who is from Brazil, had at the time been staying in a house on the farm when it was claimed she was bitten by a brown and white collie.

The High Court heard the three-year-old girl suffered a nasty dog bite to the face and has been left with scarring but it has improved over time.

The little girl’s mother who was cooking in the kitchen heard her daughter scream and found her bleeding profusely.

Alice Candido Da Costa from Brazil had through her mother Emanuelle Dos Santos Candido sued the owners of the dog and farm, Seamus and Alice Noonan of Ballyduhig Co Limerick over the attack on their Ballyduhig farm on July 17th, 2022.

At the time of the attack the little girl lived with her parents in a house on the farm at Ballyduhig.

It was claimed that at around noon on July 17th, 2022, the little girl was playing with another child in the yard of the house when the brown and white collie dog attacked her without any provocation.

The little girl was taken to the emergency department of University Hospital Limerick where she was found to have a fracture to her jaw and lacerations to her face and chest.

The lacerations were cleaned and sutured but she had to undergo surgery to fix to the jaw fracture and was in hospital for five days.

The family returned to live in Brazil two months later and the metal work in her jaw was later removed. It was claimed she also suffered dental sequelae and had to have dental treatment.

A medical examination last November showed that Alice had had numerous well healed scars on her cheeks, chin and chest as a result of the attack and she now has an anxiety around dogs.

In the proceedings it was claimed there was an alleged failure to ensure the land was free of hazard and there was an alleged failure to adequately supervise or control the dog and it had allegedly been allowed to roam unsupervised.

It was further claimed there was an alleged failure to warn residents or visitors to the house located on the farm of the presence of a dangerous or potentially dangerous dog.

Approving the settlement Ms Justice Jackson said the mother must have got an awful fright and it was very distressing for them.