NYC man sues animal shelter after adopted dog mauled him

A Staten Island man who was viciously mauled by a rescue dog the day after his mom adopted the pooch has filed suit against the city’s beleaguered animal pound for allowing the canine to go home with them, The Post has learned.

Anthony Pavone, 24, said he was left with a chunk of muscle missing from his right arm after he was attacked by Jaxx, a 5-year-old boxer pitbull mix, on May 12, 2019.

Pavone is suing the Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC) claiming the “dog was dangerous and should never have been offered to the general public,” according to his Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit filed last week.

His mother Christine – who has since died of cancer – had adopted the the 86-pound dog from ACC on May 11 and brought him back to their Graniteville home.

The family got the first indication of trouble the next morning, on Mother’s Day, when the dog lunged at Pavone’s father.

“In the morning, my father went to drink of water and the dog tried to attack him,” Pavone recalled, saying his dad, “lifted up a Swiffer to defend himself and the dog broke the Swiffer and threw it to the side.”

Jaxx “had my dad pinned in the kitchen and I grabbed him by his collar … then he calmed down,” Pavone told The Post.

After going out as a family for a Mother’s Day meal, Pavone was about to leave to meet friends when Jaxx again became aggressive and twice tried to attack him, he said.

The first time, Pavone said he yelled at the dog, who slinked back to his bed. Then as Pavone tried to leave again, “this time he went right for my leg.”

“I jumped back … I fell down the steps and that’s when he went for my neck,” Pavone said. “I put my hand up and he got my arm and the top of my head. That’s why I was bleeding all over my face.”

“Then he started ripping into my right arm and playing tug of war with it,” Pavone said.

Christine threw a chair at the dog who released Pavone’s right arm, before going for his left arm. Finally, Pavone’s father yanked Jaxx by the collar and put him on the patio, Pavone said.

“I was really surprised, adrenaline was pumping,” Pavone said. “I was trying to get my arm back.”

Pavone was hospitalized and needed surgery on his right arm, which still has a piece of muscle missing. He said he also had puncture wounds on his head and on his left arm.

Pavone was especially shocked at the attack because he had immediately taken to Jaxx when his mom brought the pooch home from ACC.

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“I took him for a walk. I fed him. That night he slept with me right by the couch,” he said. “I wondered why he would do this because I treated him so good. I was in shock and I was so upset.”

Ever since the…