Animal Attacks Orange County

A 12-year-old El Toro girl partially paralyzed from being mauled by a mountain lion in a county park will receive $1 million in payments over her lifetime, according to a tentative settlement reached Thursday with Orange County. The settlement is expected to end a painful ordeal for the family that began in 1986 when a cougar leaped from the bushes in the Ronald W.

A 3-year-old boy was treated for a puncture wound to his right knee and given rabies prevention shots after being bitten by a coyote in Irvine's San Leandro Park, police said Tuesday. The boy was playing in the park near his father, Jag Saikumar, about 8:15 p.m. Monday when the attack occurred, Irvine police officials said. The boy was taken to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, where he was treated and released.

Carrying a stack of yellow flyers, 3-year-old Jennifer Dimmick joined her parents Thursday in a door-to-door campaign to alert neighbors about the dangers of coyotes living in nearby brushland. Jennifer was attacked by a coyote Monday night several yards from the family's driveway, as her mother stood nearby. The girl was bitten on the face, head and leg.

Police hunted down and fatally shot a 90-pound dog Thursday after the animal mauled a woman walking a much smaller dog in a Santa Ana apartment complex. Tamara Jurjis suffered a deep, 4-inch-long bite to her upper arm and six puncture wounds to her buttocks and was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana for treatment, police said. The bull mastiff-Rottweiler crossbreed was strong enough to knock the 38-year-old off her feet and drag her along the ground while still biting her, police said.

A 6-year-old boy was mauled Friday by a pair of Rottweilers as he played with a friend near his home, police and neighbors said. The dogs bit Jeffrey Kerley on his legs, arms, stomach, back and buttocks before he was rescued by his sister and some neighbors who heard his screams. "The dogs were just throwing him around," said Jeffrey's 15-year-old sister, Michelle Barker. "One dog was on one leg and the other was on the other leg." The incident occurred around 3 p.m.

A 77-year-old woman was stung hundreds of times by a swarm of bees Sunday at a senior housing complex in Lake Forest and remains in guarded condition at a local hospital. Doctors at Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills are awaiting lab test results to determine whether the woman, identified as Jackie Wright, was stung by Africanized honeybees--the so-called killer bees--or domestic bees, said hospital spokeswoman Elizabeth Bear.

The fate of a dog named Boo, impounded since mauling a neighbor boy in December, remained in question Tuesday as a judge said he needed more time before deciding if the animal should live or die. During a hearing, Orange County Superior Court Judge Tully H. Seymour sought more information about potential alternatives to euthanasia before taking the case under submission for a decision.

A 140-pound bull mastiff spared after attacking a 7-year-old Yorba Linda boy last December will soon be released from the pound, but only after its owners meet requirements of a strict animal control plan a judge on Tuesday declined to ease. Stephen and Monica Williams objected strongly to provisions in an 11-point release plan requiring their dog, named Boo, to be muzzled in its own backyard.

Defense attorneys for a homeless couple accused of letting a pet rat kill their infant son suffered a setback Thursday when a judge refused to let the jury hear an emotionally wrenching 911 recording made the night the baby died. In making the ruling, Orange County Superior Court Judge Kazaharu Makino said the tape would have a "substantial emotional impact" and could unfairly sway the jury. Makino added that the parental grief heard on the tape "is not relevant" to the case.

Children will be welcomed back to Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park later this month, nearly a decade after they were banned from the rustic environs in the wake of separate mountain lion attacks on two youngsters. The Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a plan Tuesday that restricts everyone younger than 18 to the park's picnic area, playground, visitors center and camping sites.

A 77-year-old woman was stung hundreds of times by a swarm of bees Sunday at a senior housing complex in Lake Forest and remains in guarded condition at a local hospital. Doctors at Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills are awaiting lab test results to determine whether the woman, identified as Jackie Wright, was stung by Africanized honeybees--the so-called killer bees--or domestic bees, said hospital spokeswoman Elizabeth Bear.

A 77-year-old woman was stung hundreds of times by a swarm of bees Sunday at a senior housing complex in Lake Forest and remains in guarded condition at a hospital. Doctors at Saddleback Memorial Medical Center were awaiting lab results to determine whether the woman was stung by Africanized honeybees--the so-called killer bees--or domestic bees, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Bear. Authorities said the woman was stung mostly in the face, neck and upper body.

A 2-year-old girl who was bitten by a rattlesnake when she crawled into her backyard playhouse Wednesday afternoon is recovering under the close observation of doctors, hospital officials said Thursday. The toddler, Gillian Rivera, was moved Wednesday night from Kaiser Permanente Anaheim Medical Center to a Kaiser pediatric ward in Los Angeles, said Kevin Dunegan, a spokesman for Kaiser Permanente. "Doctors have determined she doesn't need surgery," he said. "But they are watching her closely."

Brea firefighters are set to suit up for the first time this summer against bee swarms--domestic or otherwise. The city has approved spending $4,800 on 60 beekeeping suits for its firefighters and paramedics. The mesh hoods, heavy white cloth and thick gloves will enable firefighters to battle bees without fear of getting stung. Brea Fire Chief Alford Nero said the department has been pricing bee protection suits ever since a woman was killed by so-called killer bees in Long Beach last year.

A swarm of bees that killed a dog and attacked a pest exterminator and four firefighters recently in Fullerton was so aggressive that officials took the unusual step of testing the insects' DNA, certain they'd prove to be Africanized honeybees. But state agriculture officials who concluded the tests in Sacramento on Thursday said they were not so-called "killer bees," which were first sighted in Southern California in 1998.

A 7-month-old girl was attacked by the family dog Tuesday night and remains hospitalized in stable condition, authorities said. The shar-pei bit the girl in the head about 8:40 p.m. Tuesday at the family's home in Fullerton. She was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange with head lacerations; police say she is scheduled to be released Thursday. It is not clear why the dog attacked, said Fullerton Police Sgt. Joe Klein, who added that the dog was usually kept in another room.

A bull mastiff dog named Boo that attacked a 7-year-old boy last December is set to be released from the county shelter under a plan that requires it to be muzzled in the presence of anyone but its owners. The 11-point plan, which requires court approval, also requires the dog's owner, Stephen Williams of Yorba Linda, to maintain a $100,000 liability insurance policy and to post "Beware of Dog" signs. Zach Anderson Jr., who lives next door to Boo, has recovered from his injuries.

Brea firefighters are set to suit up for the first time this summer against bee swarms--domestic or otherwise. The city has approved spending $4,800 on 60 beekeeping suits for its firefighters and paramedics. The mesh hoods, heavy white cloth and thick gloves will enable firefighters to battle bees without fear of getting stung. Brea Fire Chief Alford Nero said the department has been pricing bee protection suits ever since a woman was killed by so-called killer bees in Long Beach last year.

A Huntington Beach woman suffered bites over much of her body and two others were injured Sunday after being attacked by two pit bulls staying at their house, police said. Cyndy Nefroney, 53, was trying to stop a fight between one of her son's pit bulls and a boxer in her backyard when the pit bull turned on her, police said. Two tenants staying at her house in the 8700 block of Mossford Drive tried to help and were attacked by a second pit bull.

Just days after Orange County reopened a wilderness park to unlimited use by children, hikers reported being charged this week by an aggressive female mountain lion that came within three feet of youngsters. The Sunday incident involving the animal also known as a cougar has convinced county Supervisor Charles V. Smith that his board needs to consider reversing its decision to fully open Caspers Wilderness Park to minors for the first time in nearly six years.