Cesar Millan, best known as “The Dog Whisperer,” is being sued after a pit bull trained at his Dog Psychology Center attacked Alison Bitney, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Bitney claims she suffered “disfiguring open wounds, deep muscle and tendon lacerations” and bone fractures on Sept. 23, 2014 when she was mauled by a vicious pit bull named Gus that was released from Millan’s Dog Psychology Center just six days before.
Bitney also said she permanently lost feeling and function in her left hand due to the attack that took place at the dog owner’s home in Santa Clarita, Calif.
The pit bull is said to have a history of attacking people and other animals and was seized and impounded in Texas in 2013 after being found to be a danger to the public and ordered destroyed, according to the complaint.
“Thereafter, Cesar Millan and his Dog Psychology Center, agreed to take over custody and control of the pit bull and not to release it until it was fully deemed a safe member of society,” the complaint said. “When the dog’s owner fell behind on monthly payments to keep it housed at the Dog Psychology Center, the center prematurely released the known vicious and dangerous pit bull back into the public domain and entrusted it to someone with no training or experience in the handling of vicious and dangerous dogs.”
However, the center’s director Jen Woodard said in a statement that the dog’s owner removed the pit bull “against the strong advice and objection of his trainer.”
Woodard also stated that Millan has never had contact with or trained the dog, which was returned to the center and placed under quarantine.
