(VIRGINIA MERCURY) - On July 23, 2023, Jaeon Chavis was bitten by a dog at Red Onion State Prison in the midst of a dispute with a guard over using a prison telephone.

The canine tore into his leg, rendering it the same texture as “ground taco meat” as guards punched and kicked him and later called him a “n— crybaby,” his attorneys alleged in a lawsuit filed in May. Since then, Chavis said he’s suffered from severe pain in his leg, constant anxiety, fear of retaliation from guards and lingering PTSD.

“I’m freaking terrified,” Chavis said in a September interview from Wallens Ridge State Prison, where he’s now housed. “It has destroyed me.”

In 2024, Virginia lawmakers passed bipartisan legislation aimed at curtailing the use of prison dogs after a Business Insider investigation profi

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