Omaha, NE - A woman takes action to stop a Pit Bull from attacking a young boy. Now she's recovering from some serious injuries. It happened near 14th and Sherwood Avenue. The woman's husband tells Action 3 News her bites are so bad, doctor's may be forced to amputate her leg.
A Pit Bull's big brown eyes look up out of her cage. She's timid at the Nebraska Humane Society but Saturday, the dog tried biting three different neighbors, one a young boy. "Scary, pretty scary," said 9-year-old Lionel Valles.
Witnesses tell Action 3 News, when the 9-year-old was walking down the street, that's when the dog came and attacked him. When he yelled for help, the neighbor heard him, came to his rescue and the dog turned on her too. 52-year-old Joyce Haynes suffers bites so severe, her husband says you can almost see her bone. "I tried to help the lady, she had gashes everywhere, blood coming everywhere," said Lionel's Godparent, Monce Castaneda.
"Took a two-inch by 3-inch gash out of her left leg and four puncture wounds on her right leg," said the victim's husband, Bill Haynes.
A true animal lover, Joyce has petted the Pit Bull numerous times before. "When I told her they were going to euthanize the dog, she started to cry. She don't like to hear about that, she don't like to hear about animals getting hurt," her husband said.
The owner of the Pit Bull is sorry this ever happened. She tells me the dog is around babies and people everyday and has never once shown aggression. "She just never acted like this before so I feel like something had to provoke my dog to make her do something like this," said the Pit Bull owner, Cachara Stubblefield.
Little Lionel hopes his neighbor gets better soon. His family's convinced if she wasn't there, the boy wouldn't have had a chance. "I'd like to thank her," said the boy.
The dog is being held for evaluation at the Nebraska Humane Society for the next 10 days. Since the woman's injuries are so severe, the Humane Society will have to euthanize the dog.
Posted by: Reporter, Erika Summers, esummers@action3news.com
