Lawsuit: 'Bloodthirsty' Attack Badly Disfigured Dog Walker

Jacqueline Durand, a college student who walked dogs for extra money, went to a Dallas-area home for a job on Dec. 23. What happened when she opened the front door was the stuff of nightmares. According to a lawsuit filed against Dr. Justin Bishop and his wife, Ashley, two of the couple's three dogs, a mixed-breed German Shepherd and mixed-breed pit bull, immediately knocked the 22-year-old University of Texas at Dallas student off balance and then attacked her head and face, NBC reports. The lawsuit says the "violent and bloodthirsty" dogs ripped off all of Durand's clothes, including her jeans. The dogs "tore off and ate Jacqueline’s ears, her nose, her lips, and most of her face below the eyes," the lawsuit states. She also suffered severe puncture wounds all over her body.

The lawsuit accuses the Bishops, who hired Durand to look after the dogs while they were out of town, of negligence. The suit says the couple were aware of their animals' violent tendencies: A sign on the front door says, "Crazy Dogs. Please Don’t Knock or Ring the Bell. Call or Text Instead." According to a police report, Durand was found with "serious facial damage," and officers and paramedics struggled to restrain the dogs as they brought her out of the home. She has been hospitalized since the attack. Lawyer Chip Brooker says she has already undergone several reconstructive surgeries and will need many more, CBS DFW reports. A judge decided earlier this month that the dogs should be euthanized, but Brooker has requested a delay so that the animals can be examined.

The lawsuit says the dogs were out of the kennels they were usually kept in. It says they were in kennels when Durand met them after coming to the house to discuss the job with Ashley Bishop. Durand's relatives say the situation is especially bad because of how much Durand loves animals, WFAA reports. "She walked into that house with nothing but love for those dogs,” her sister Barreca says. "We just hope that she can return to whatever her normalcy will be one day," her father says, adding that her family will be with her every step of the way. In a Jan. 18 Facebook post, Durand said she was making good progress. "I am so blessed to be surrounded by so much love and support as I go through this hard time in my life," she said. (More Texas stories.)