Texas student releases video of her injuries after dogs she was sitting bit her 800 times!
Warning: This article contains graphic video
A Texas student who almost lost her life after reportedly being violently attacked by two dogs in December 2021 has now blasted the owners of the canines and also revealed her initial fear of losing her boyfriend. Jacqueline Durand was just a day away from turning 22 when the horrific incident happened on December 23 last year.
Durand appeared on an Instagram live stream on Wednesday, March 16, with CBS News journalist David Begnaud, where she called out the dogs’ owners Dr Justin Bishop and his wife Ashley. She said, “I wanted to hear from them. It just kind of breaks my heart that they didn't reach out.”
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The young woman also reflected upon her relationship with her 24-year-old boyfriend, Nathan, as she noted: “I think (the attack) has grown us even closer. I was skeptical if he was going to stay with me. I asked him straight up, ‘Do you still want to be with me? I've changed forever’, and he said ‘I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.’ I know there's no reason not to believe him because he speaks the truth.”
The pair met each other at a local PetCo in Coppell, a suburb of Dallas. Though Durand left the job, they remain in contact. But their relationship grew strong when Durand stuck by Nathan’s side during his cancer diagnosis and successful treatment. Nathan also spoke during the live stream and expressed, “'I'm so grateful that I get the same opportunity to show the same level of love and care that she showed me during that time. I'm glad that I get the chance to. And I'm glad I get to be there for her.”
According to reports, Durand was contacted by the Bishops for dogsitting. She also went for a meet-and-greet before agreeing to the job. But she claimed that the animals who seemed “lovely” during the first meeting were completely different when she went to take care of them. The supply chain management student at the University of Texas at Dallas has also alleged that the pair had promised to keep the dogs – a German Shepard mix, Lucy, and a Pitbull mix named Bender – in their crates but overturned on the day of the booking, saying they were not locked in. Durand was viciously attacked the moment she entered the house, leaving her bleeding profusely with at least 800 bite marks. She noted: “When I felt the skin hanging from my face, I thought I was going to die.”
During the Instagram live stream, Durand’s father John also slammed the dogs’ owners. He said, “We really learn in life that incidents can be prevented when there's some forethought. This is a terrible tragedy and I know the homeowners feel terrible, but this absolutely did not have to happen and that's probably the feeling and this could have been prevented.”
Besides, Durand, who has to undergo several surgeries to restore her appearance, has sued the Bishops for $1 million. Her lawyer Chip Brooker mentioned the warning the Bishops had put on their door that read, “Crazy Dogs. Please Don't Knock or Ring the Bell. Call or Text Instead” to CBS Mornings. He said, “The warning on the door suggests that the Bishops knew that both of these dogs have acted aggressively to people arriving at the front door.” Brooker also claimed that while referring to the expert team's results that the animals “were dangerous and had vicious propensities.” “We suspect the Bishops knew that. We suspect everybody who came across these dogs, particularly Lucy, knew that,” he added.
