By Brammhi Balarajan and Rebekah Riess, CNN
(CNN) — The household of an 85-year-old girl who was killed by an alligator whereas walking her canine has filed a wrongful loss of life lawsuit in opposition to the true property firm that owns and operates the southeast Florida subdivision the place the attack occurred.
Gloria Serge was walking her canine in February 2023 alongside a pond within the Spanish Lakes Fairways improvement in Fort Pierce when a 10-foot alligator tried to take her canine, CNN previously reported. She was knocked over and the reptile grabbed Serge by the foot and dragged her into the pond, finally killing her. The alligator was later caught and euthanized, based on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Serge began walking her canine in her yard after a letter from the property supervisor instructed her she was restricted to walking her canine on the property or on the development-owned canine run, which was greater than a mile from her home, based on a news release by the legislation agency Lesser, Lesser, Landy & Smith, PLLC, which filed the lawsuit. The pond the place Serge died was in her yard, the lawsuit states.
“The Defendant encouraged, if not forced, the Decedent [Serge] to walk her dog near a retention pond that it knew, or should have known, contained large, dangerous alligators that constituted a nuisance under the definition developed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission,” the complaint alleges.
According to the lawsuit, residents and subdivision employees have been allowed to feed wildlife, together with the alligator in query that residents referred to as Henry, which “had the effect of socializing the alligators toward human contact while downplaying the danger that these animals posed to residents.”
The law firm additionally mentioned in its information launch the Statewide Nuisance Alligator Problem had a toll-free hotline the place trappers would take away alligators greater than 4 ft lengthy.
“At more than 10 feet long, ‘Henry’ more than satisfied the requirement and could have been safely and effectively removed from Spanish Lakes Fairway with little more than a telephone call from the managers tasked with keeping the community safe,” the information launch mentioned.
“Property owners in Florida, and particularly those managing residential communities catering to elderly residents, have a legal and non-delegable duty to identify dangerous conditions on the property, warn those in the vicinity of the danger and take immediate steps to remove the threat,” Joshua D. Ferraro, an lawyer with Lesser, Lesser, Landy & Smith, PLLC, said within the information launch.
“Unfortunately, the managers at Spanish Lakes Fairways failed to live up to their obligations, and as a direct result, Gloria died a horrible and terrifying death,” Ferraro added.
Although Florida has greater than an estimated 1.25 million alligators, attacks by the reptiles are rare – there have been 442 unprovoked chew assaults from 1948 to 2021, with 26 of the bites leading to loss of life, based on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Wynne Building Corporation president Joel Wynne responded to the lawsuit saying, “We certainly understand the tragedy and the feelings of Mrs. Serge’s family. However, we developed Spanish Lakes Fairways 37 years ago. We have approximately 3,000 residents. This is the very first time where a resident was attacked by an Alligator.”
“Mrs. Serge was a longtime resident and certainly knew of the presence of alligators and that they were inherently dangerous animals,” Wynne mentioned.
Bill Serge, the son of Gloria Serge, instructed CNN affiliate WPTV that the household was suing as a result of they didn’t need different households to expertise the identical ache.
“No child should have to bury their mom under such horrible circumstances,” he instructed the station.
The-CNN-Wire
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