Name: NC
Victim: Adult, Pet
Location: Yard of apartment, Michigan
Year of attack: 2021

Tell us about the attack

I was walking my 2 dogs (1 male, 1 female) to the door of our apartment when we saw three unfamiliar dogs. My dogs ran to sniff them and everything was fine, no growls or negative body language at all. My girl pup ran to me, about 6 feet from the others, sat next to my side, and in a flash one of the dogs — a black pit bull — charged at us. The other two dogs ran off and my male dog chased after them. The pit bull latched onto the side of her neck and started thrashing. I started to wrestle this pit bull: hitting, screaming, trying to pry its mouth open. I was screaming for help, as my dog screamed out in more and more pain. The next thing I knew, a neighbor and my boyfriend came out, our female dog was next to him, our male dog was running back to him and I was kneeling in the snow with the pit bull in a chokehold.

How has your life changed as a result of the attack?
We both were lucky. She had some nasty wounds on her neck but was treated. I had to go to the ER for my punctures but we both are here and physically okay. Both of our dogs are now skeptical of new dogs. The male is protective of the female. She also gets uneasy around new dogs and has fits of crying, cowering, growling: never defensive, it’s always a really scared and confused reaction from her which is heartbreaking to see. She grew up with multiple dogs and never had any issues meeting new pups until after this. She definitely has PTSD. Myself, I get panicky when I see pit bulls, I can’t be by them without having PTSD-like symptoms.

Legal Consequences
The owner of the pit bull was in jail. A family member of the owner who was our neighbor — a house across from our apartment building — was watching the pit bull and was the owner of the other two dogs. She had charges against her and paid my ER and vet bills after like 4 months. This pit bull wasn’t ‘destroyed’ despite this being its second attack.

What would you like people to know as a result of your attack?
Commonly you hear about there always being a sign before a dog attacks and that the best thing to prevent many attacks is giving the dog space. In my case, my dog ran and sat next to me after a positive interaction and was viciously charged at. There was absolutely no sign of an impending attack. This pit bull flipped like a switch. Even after viciously mauling her, it was standing next to me acting like nothing happened, and it tried to follow me and my neighbor into the building. These oddities aren’t just my case. The majority of pit bull attack stories have those same things in common. My family dog (a different dog) was attacked years prior by a different pit bull and I remember hearing the same crazy acts about that pit bull. It didn’t make sense until I witnessed it and it is utterly terrifying.