Name: Jennifer
Victim: Adult, Pet
Location: Three doors down from my house where I was walking my two dogs, New York State
Year of attack: 2020

Tell us about the attack

May 23, 2020, I was walking two of my hounds on a private road inside a trailer park. All dogs are supposed to be leashed and none are supposed to be tied outside but it happens anyway. I went to walk past this house where two pits were tied outside and as I passed the house, one of the pit bulls, a black and white one, snapped the collar right off its neck and charged at me,  knocking me off my feet. While my my other dog stayed behind me, my senior rescue dog — Charlie — placed himself between me and the attacking pit. The pit bull tore into him. Charlie could not protect himself. He literally does not have enough teeth to fight anything. This pit ripped his leash and collar right off him. It tore chunks out of him and tore his leg. You should see where it tried ripping his tendons away from the bone. And it literally ate a chunk out of his rear end. Then it started dragging him down the road by his neck.

I could not help him no matter how I tried or how much I screamed. I lost my voice and permanently damaged my vocal chords screaming.

How has your life changed as a result of the attack?
It took three days before Charlie could move off his bed. Two months to walk. He has megaesophagus because his neck was damaged.

It took two months before I could move my right arm. The pit did not have rabies shots and my dog had to have a booster as well they had to look me all over.  I have nightmares and I know I have PTSD.

There was so much more to this story, but this is not the first attack by a pit bull for me. Pit bulls are everywhere here. I am hypervigilant now. I go out with a can of spray and a screw driver.

Animal control told me that the female pit bull owner was crying and I should be kind cause she was pregnant. She kept her dog and I lost my voice.

Legal Consequences
The woman pit owner paid me $700, but it cost $4,000 for Charlie to get better. The next month he had pneumonia and was hospitalized for two days because he aspirated from throat damage. That was another $800.00. The rescue he came from stood by me. God bless them. They had a go fund me started before I got him out of the hospital. The pit is back in here in the trailer park. I saw him two days ago. It embarrasses me to say so but I had her number and because they did nothing when I saw this pit back in here I called them and left them a voice mail they won’t forget. But basically they skated just like the last pit bull that bit one of my dogs.

What would you like people to know as a result of your attack?
These pits are incredibility powerful. If you are gonna fight back, you must spray them before they get to you. I carry a screwdriver in case I cannot get the spray out fast enough. I have also thrown scalding hot coffee on them. I gave my neighbor who was attacked pepper spray. I have a friend who maces them. Be alert. I seriously was relatively naive thinking I was so close to home I was safe. Always keep your ears tuned in for that distinct patter of their feet. I can never relax anymore. I know Charlie does not blame me but I blame myself. I promised to protect him but I could not. He has lasting deficits and I never got my voice back. My life is changed. One of the things I miss the most is how Charlie used to run and he can not anymore. No justice for either of us because of pit bulls in our community.