Pit bull victim awarded $7.25 million

INDEPENDENCE, Mo., June 11 (UPI) -- A Missouri man who was attacked by a group of pit bull dogs and suffered severe injuries has been awarded $7.25 million.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Vernon E. Scoville ruled that several defendants should have known of the dogs' "vicious propensities and tendency to injure persons. . ." in making the award to Alan L. Hill, The Kansas City Star reported Wednesday.

Hill was mowing a feed lot when the dogs escaped a nearby Independence, Mo., house on May 4, 2006. He nearly died in the attack, remaining hospitalized on a feeding tube for more than a month. His medical bills were listed at greater than $500,000, and his loss of direct and future income was put at more than $1 million.

The defendants included both the owner of the dogs, a handyman who allowed the animals to escape and the building's landlords -- who had tried to contact animal control to have the dogs removed in the days before the attack.