Kaitlin Olson as Dee and Rob McElhenney as Mac, at left, with Danny DeVito at right as Frank Reynolds in hit sitcom “Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” Olson and McElhenney are being sued for an alleged biting of a baby by their German Shepherd at a party in L.A. Credit: Patrick McElhenney/FX
A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court allegedly claims that the stars of Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Northeast Philly native Rob McElhenney and Kaitlin Olson, his wife, irresponsibly let their German Shepherd chew a baby’s cheek off.
Julie Festa de LaGarde, listed online as a registered acupuncturist who runs a blog called Real Fit Mama, says her 19-month-old infant daughter’s cheek was “hanging off with all the insides of her face exposed and blood streaming everywhere” after the incident at a 2012 Father’s Day party thrown by McElhenney and Olson in L.A., TMZ reported.
The lawsuit reportedly claims that the incident occurred “without provocation” and that De LaGarde had asked Olson and McElhenney to leash their dog, but they did not.
De LaGarde wrote about the alleged incident on her blog in May 2013 as part of a post for National Dog Bite Prevention Week, although she does not name Olson and McElhenny as the owners of the dog in question.
The hosts themselves had two young children. They also had a family dog – their dearly beloved, long-time pet, who was a member of their family for years. The dog was roaming around the party, and was known to be “great with kids” and “a kid-friendly” dog.
Unfortunately for us, Z was the proof that even the tamest and friendliest of dogs can get spooked when there are kids, strangers, and more people around then they are accustomed to. Even the dog’s owners were clearly horrified and shocked that their dog had done this. Z was petting the dog when out of nowhere the dog snapped and attacked her viciously. This happened within a foot of me, and Z was thrown to the ground, badly bitten on her face, and the dog had her pinned down on her back on the ground. The right side of her face was so severely bitten it was no longer connected, save one small area. In the hours before she was actually operated on, my husband and I took turns holding her right cheek on to her face.
De LaGarde posted pictures on the blog of her daughter’s wound, as well as how her daughter looked a year after.
De La Garde’s daughter, identified as Z, a year after the alleged attack by the dogs of Olson and McElhenney, still shows scars. Credit: RealFitMama.org
The lawsuit reportedly seeks damages for pain and suffering, psychological suffering, and to cover the costs of future plastic surgeries to remove the scars from De LaGarde’s daughter’s face.
