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ANIMAL WATCH - L.A. Animal Services knew that an impounded Belgian Malinois at the East Valley shelter was “aggressive with humans” because he had already reportedly bitten two children, which was the indicated reason for his surrender to the shelter by his owner. Contemporary shelters are limited in making decisions about dangerous or borderline behavior and whether an animal will “snap” or settle down with time and training.
Unfortunately, due to the continually exploding population of dogs, shelter staffs and volunteers have little time to spend working with an individual animal.
Belgian Malinois are high-drive, risk-loving protection dog—especially revered for military and police work—and this one undoubtedly was under extreme stress from confinement in a kennel with animals packed in close proximity, strangers approaching him constantly and no avenue of escape or even avoidance.
Knowing that he attacked any child is disturbing. But the fact that apparently the shelter’s response was merely releasing him to be transferred out of state for adoption is unforgivable.
It was also not possible to determine if the parents were involved in harming the dog and/or the children. These issues may or may not have been answered during the trial, according to KOMO News.
RESCUES SHUFFLE PROBLEM ANIMALS
Horta was preparing to transport the Belgin Malinois, Maximus, from the East Valley Animal Shelter to an Arizona animal-rescue location, but was never told about Maximus’ bite history, which included a child and a Los Angeles Animal Services’ shelter employee.
Was there no place closer than AZ for an adoptable pet to be kept?
The woman allegedly “hired to transport the dog” was not provided the important fact that he had bitten a shelter employee before she attempted to give him a tranquilizer, Tradazone, disguised as a treat.
The HIT Living Trust boasts about saving pets, but shows pictures of only 12 small dogs that are reportedly split and kept in two different location.
HOW DID MAXIMUS GET TO THE SHELTER?
Reports say the dog, Maximus, was brought to the shelter by the father, after the dog bit a child. If the dog was an adult at the time and this was confirmed, the circumstances should have been investigated by law-enforcement officers and a behaviorist to determine whether he had acted aggressively or was defending himself in an abusive situation.
This should have been determined before he was being considered for adoption.
WOMAN ATTACKED BY BELGIAN MALINOIS WHILE GIVING IT TREAT
A woman who sued after being attacked by a Belgian Malinois as she tried to give the dog a treat while preparing to transport it from the Los Angeles Animal Services’ East Valley shelter, has been awarded more than $5.4 million by a jury.
The attack reportedly occurred while Genice Horta, 51, was preparing to drive the dog, Maximus, from the East Valley Animal Shelter to an Arizona animal-rescue location in September 2020. She responded that she was never told about Maximus’ history, which included biting both the child of the person who surrendered him and also a shelter employee.
She stated she was attacked by Maximus in the shelter parking lot, where she offered him a treat that contained a commonly used tranquilizer, called Trazadol.
In her lawsuit, she claimed that she was hired to transport a dog from the East Valley Animal Shelter in L.A. to Arizona and had not been warned that the dog previously injured anyone.
After attempting to give the dog a treat containing a commonly-used tranquilizer, she claimed the dog attacked her, severely injuring her right arm and causing serious permanent injuries.
The City of Los Angeles was found responsible for 62.5% of Horta’s harm, with HIT Living Foundation and individuals, Heather Crowe and Alix Novak, found responsible for 25% of her harm. Horta was found responsible for 12.5% of the damage she suffered in this incident.
A jury awarded Horta more than $5.4 million in damages in late February 2026.
Horta claimed she was hired to transport the dog from the shelter to Arizona in September 2020, but wasn’t advised of his bite history or any previous behavior, according to the complaint. She brought a treat with a sedative, Tradazone, drive to calm the dog during the trip.
PARTNERING
The HIT Living Foundation’s founder, Heather Crowe, reportedly facilitated Maximus being pulled from the shelter on behalf of a rescue organization, (Pampering Pets Rescue) and Novak, where Maximus would be transported to the foundation. .
Nowhere was it explained why all these complex moves were made; however, HIT Living Trust Foundation was only showing six small dogs for adoption on its site and provided a location where six more are available.
And, on another page, it describes its adoption procedure, stating that “Your Adoption Donation is 100% tax deductible and that “adoption fees generally range from $550 to $800, which covers a fraction of the total costs associated with these rescue efforts.”
It also advises that “Your Adoption Donation is 100% tax deductible” and asks adopters to check with their employer “to see if they will match your donation by providing them with your adoption agreement receipt.”
THE BASIS FOR THE AWARDS
“As a California-based rescue and New Hope Partner with LA Animal Services, HIT Living Trust formally requested and completed the pull, at which point ownership transferred to our organization. HIT Living’s involvement was limited to facilitating the dog’s release so he could be transferred to Pampering Pets,” according to a statement from the foundation.
The Foundation said it was “found partially liable due to technical ownership” and it clarified that no one from their organization ever had physical custody of Maximus.
“Pampering Pets independently hired and arranged for a third-party transporter to pick up the dog directly from the shelter,” it declared, emphasizing that “HIT Living did not hire, select, or supervise the transporter and was not present at the time of the incident.
MAXIMUS HAD A BITE HISTORY
“The dog had a documented bite history, and we reasonably believed the receiving rescue and its contracted professionals would be fully informed and follow standard safety protocols,” the foundation said.
However, when Horta gave the treat containing a tranquilizer to Maximus, they explained that he “attacked her without warning, permanently injuring her arm. Horta needed nine surgeries, including grafts, and suffered other physical and emotional injuries, according to the court filing.”
She was never given paperwork or a verbal warning about the dog’s behavior when he was brought out to her van by a shelter employee, she said.
In a complaint, initially filed in 2022, Horta’s lawyers argued that the shelter knew or had reason to know that Maximus was dangerous, but did not document his “dangerous propensities” correctly.
MAXIMUS’ DOG BITE HISTORY
The filing details the dog’s bite history. Maximus was surrendered to the shelter by his owner after he bit a child, breaking skin and “causing serious injuries,” and once he was in the shelter, he bit and seriously injured an employee, according to the complaint.
“If she had known about Maximus’ behavior and bite history, Horta said she would have requested that he be placed in and taken out of her transport van by a shelter or rescue employee, or refused to do that transport,” according to her complaint.
THE COMPLEX WORLD OF DOG ADOPTION
Horta “was not in the business of personally handling and interacting with dangerous and aggressive dogs with bite histories, and therefore being bitten by aggressive dogs was not a risk she assumed as part of her profession as a transporter,” the complaint argued.
- Maximus was on red alert in the shelter, (which means he has a serious behavioral problem and cannot be released directly to the public from the shelter) but was allowed to be adopted by a partner from the “New Hope” list, which is comprised of rescue organizations and can carry on this façade of “No Kill.”
“California law requires an animal shelter or rescue group to disclose the dog’s bite history and get a signed acknowledgement of that information to anyone to whom a dog is released if the dog has bitten and broken the skin of a person after the age of 4 months. Neither was done,” according to Horta’s complaint.
“LA Animal Services’ mission is to protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of animals and people in the City of Los Angeles. The Department’s Dog Bite and Behavior Documentation and Disclosure policy requires that staff must provide a bite and behavioral disclosure to any person receiving an animal with a prior bite history,” a spokesperson for Los Angeles Animal Services said in a statement.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
So what steps did LAAS take to ease his discomfort and make him feel safe?
They reportedly contacted a “rescue” in AZ and arranged to release him to a stranger who would drive him to an Arizona “rescue,” undoubtedly also packed with problem dogs. And where he will live the rest of his life in a small cage with no personal interaction with humans or other dogs. A Malinous, more than most breeds, thrives on challenge, long runs, climbing walls and close contact with a loving but strong owner and family. But because of the financial benefits to non-profit organizations most and that he had already bitten two people, so they let a “rescue” send a strange woman into the shelter where the dog had already expressed his fear/anxiety (and aggressive responses) She reached toward his face with a “treat,” which contained a tranquilizer, and he responded by biting her.
Why doesn’t that surprise us?
But, the real question is, “Why was this dog that had been surrendered for being dangerou after biting two children even being considered to be adopted to another home? Why was he not humanely euthanized to avoid repeated unforgivable behavior? The only answer that can satisfy this question is that they did not want to add to their “No Kill” figures demanded by Best Friends Animal Society.
Although he may have rightfully been described as “aggressive,” why was LAAS even considering him for adoption? We do not know the circumstances of the bites, nor whether that home was his first and whether he was left alone with children. His age was also not provided, although It is also possible in this instance that his some of his aggression” was in response to the failure of humans to respect his warnings. Being caged in any of the Los Angeles overcrowded and understaffed shelters certainly would not ease any fears the dog had of being harmed and is not conducive to building trust.
Apparently the shelter did not know the history of the dog, but it really didn’t matter because his ability to be safely adopted depended upon his reactions, which were obviously that he did not want this woman reaching for his face. However, he took the treat before reportedly lunging for her arm.
The humane thing would have been to have a veterinary technician tranquilize him safely and euthanize him to stop his need to be constantly on alert for what a human might do to him. njuries after being mauled by a dog with a historyof human aggression.
Published on Mar. 3, 2026
A 51-year-old woman who was sent by an out-of-state “rescue” (name) to pick up a Belgian Malinois (apparently already classified as a “dangerous dog” by the Los Angeles Animal Services’ shelter and transport it to AZ, was awarded $5.4 million by a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury on (date), after the dog attacked her as she reached out toward it to feed it a treat containing a tranquilizer.
The incident occurred at the East Valley Animal Shelter in North Hollywood on September 23, 2020. This isone of the City’s six public shelters, for which the operation and safety of the public and “rescue partners” is under the jurisdiction of LAAS General ManagerAnnette Ramirez.
HISTORY OF THE DOG AND THE BREED
There is little information available on this Malinois, which is a dog favored by many law-enforcement agencies for police work and guarding, and is one of the most stable breeds if raised in a loving family, and his devotion will be lifelong if kept in a familiar, loving environment.
The Belgian Malinois is one of the favorites for police work and guarding. Their physical agility is breathtaking but they cannot be confined for long without having it affect them--we do not know how long this creature was locked in a small pen or crate with other dogs around him and a sense of inability to protect himself.
We do not know much about him, and apparently neither did the shelter and Los Angeles Animal Services should have acted accordingly and responsibility, rather than just trying to shift a dangerous around rather doing the right thing for the animal and the public.
This breed has been used for protection and military purposes due to its high drive (meaning it will continue until it finishes a task or order) but there are specific qualities dog that must be understood and expected in this breed. If you have heard of the Belgian Malinois, you might know they are tireless workers that are strong, intelligent, and highly trainable.
Another fact about the Belgian Malinois is that they form an intense bond with their human companions, so much so that many Belgian Malinois can’t bear to be away from their owners, according to Dogster.com .
However, there is one trait about this impressive breed that isn’t completely true: Belgian Malinois are aggressive and dangerous.
HERE IS WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY:
It is not a dog that is generally recommended for a family pet, but if children are raised in its family, it may be fiercely protective. It is revered for its intense loyalty to its owner and its own family, its high energy and intelligence and athletic prowess. If it is to be kept as a pet, spaying/neutering is highly recommended to calm its strong drive. It may not do well in an environment where there are strangers constantly entering or where it gets little attention and exercise. It is fiercely attached to a responsible owner who spends time training it and engaging in physical activity.
In the case of the Malinois, there is another characteristic may come into play—that is the lack of exercise and constant changes and proximity of unknown dogs, which can be considered threatening in an animal shelter or rescue,
(Phyllis M. Daugherty is a former Los Angeles City employee and a long-time animal welfare advocate. A contributor to CityWatchLA, she is known for her investigative reporting on animal shelter operations, misuse of public funds, and the dangers of poorly regulated pet adoption policies. She is a strong proponent of public safety in animal control, advocating for stricter oversight of aggressive dog breeds, especially pit bulls, and for breed-specific legislation.)
