DALLAS — A Texas woman who said her 2-year-old daughter suffered a “vicious” attack from a giant otter in 2019, has filed a lawsuit against a Dallas aquarium.
It is the second lawsuit filed against the Dallas World Aquarium in the last six months, WFAA-TV reported.
The latest lawsuit, filed Monday in the 193rd Civil District Court in Dallas County, accused the aquarium of failing to properly enclose the habitat or warn guests about the potential dangers of the animals, which are native to South America, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Dallas World Aquarium hit with another lawsuit alleging attack by giant otter on a young child https://t.co/vbRcurhsg0
— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) February 11, 2022
According to court documents, the lawsuit seeks $250,000 to $1 million in damages.
The aquarium did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the newspaper reported.
According to the lawsuit, Samantha Jorgensen, of Fort Worth, visited the aquarium with her husband and 2-year-old daughter on Sept. 2, 2019, the Morning News reported. Because the aquarium was crowded that day, Harlow Jorgensen put his daughter on his shoulders so she could have a better view of the animals, the lawsuit states.
Harlow Jorgensen, who is 6 feet, 3 inches tall, stood near the middle of the giant otter exhibit, an open-air habitat surrounded by glass that is approximately 5 feet, 6 inches tall, KXAS-TV reported.
According to the lawsuit, the otter reached over the glass barrier and bit the girl’s hand, according to the television station.
The girl began “screaming and bleeding profusely” and was given “basic first aid” by an on-site medic, according to the lawsuit. The child’s right middle and ring fingers were cut and her middle fingernail was torn off, the Morning News reported.
Samantha Jorgensen later took her daughter to a pediatrician, who prescribed antibiotics, the newspaper reported. The lawsuit claims the girl was “scarred” by the attack.
“(It) will be kind of this constant reminder of what was supposed to be this great fun, happy day that so many parents get to experience with their kids -- going to the aquarium, going to the zoo, seeing the animals, having fun -- and it just turned into a nightmare,” Heather Davis, one of the family’s attorneys, told the Morning News.
In October 2021, Grand Prairie resident Stacey Williams filed a similar lawsuit against the aquarium, the newspaper reported. Williams claimed that a giant otter scratched her 18-month-old son in front of his 4-year-old brother during their visit in May 2021. The boy was wounded and carries a permanent scar, according to the lawsuit.
Since Oct. 14, 2021, the aquarium has sported a sign that reads, in capital letters, “Be aware: Giant otters are active animals and can injure you,” WFAA reported.
Court documents include a screenshot of a TripAdvisor review and a comment on a YouTube video that shows an otter escaping the exhibit as evidence that the aquarium needed to take more precautionary measures.
“We know that the otters can get over this wall because these exact giant otters have escaped before,” Davis told the Morning News. “Knowing that there’s a problem that endangers children and thinking that they can do nothing more than having a 1-inch tall ticker on a maybe 8-by-10 inch screen that’s on top of the exhibit? That’s not enough.”
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