Posted 3:59 pm Friday, July 30, 2010
83-Year-Old Woman Survives Pit Bull Dog Attack
Saved After Husband Shoots Dog 4 Times
By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer
She survived a vicious attack by a pit bull mix last week, but there were moments 83-year-old Glynda Hulsey believed she would not make it back to her home alive.
Staff Writer
She survived a vicious attack by a pit bull mix last week, but there were moments 83-year-old Glynda Hulsey believed she would not make it back to her home alive.
Authorities believe the dog, which the woman's husband shot dead, may have been used in illegal dog fighting and escaped or was turned loose because of poor performance.
"My screams could not be heard, and I thought, 'this dog isn't going to quit and I am not going to make it,'" she said sitting in her Smith County home Thursday surrounded by her own dogs.
"My screams could not be heard, and I thought, 'this dog isn't going to quit and I am not going to make it,'" she said sitting in her Smith County home Thursday surrounded by her own dogs.
Mrs. Hulsey said she walked to her mailbox on County Road 496 last Monday as she has done for 28 years to get the day's mail.
"I noticed the dog as I got down there and it came under a barbed wire fence and started growling. I decided to just go back to the house, but the dog circled me and my dogs," she said.
Mrs. Hulsey said she couldn't remember how the dog got her on the ground, but she grabbed a fence post and tried to defend herself as the vicious animal tore at her feet, legs, hands, arms and back.
"I was scooting back to the house and he just kept biting me. My dogs Badger, a 10-year-old blue heeler, and Sir Rowdy, a 10-year-old schnauzer, were trying to get the dog off me, but he and another dog with him attacked them also," she said.
"I noticed the dog as I got down there and it came under a barbed wire fence and started growling. I decided to just go back to the house, but the dog circled me and my dogs," she said.
Mrs. Hulsey said she couldn't remember how the dog got her on the ground, but she grabbed a fence post and tried to defend herself as the vicious animal tore at her feet, legs, hands, arms and back.
"I was scooting back to the house and he just kept biting me. My dogs Badger, a 10-year-old blue heeler, and Sir Rowdy, a 10-year-old schnauzer, were trying to get the dog off me, but he and another dog with him attacked them also," she said.
Both Badger and Sir Rowdy suffered bites during the attack, but have made complete recoveries.
As the seconds turned to minutes, Mrs. Hulsey said she felt as if the attack lasted hours.
"I really didn't know if I was going to make it inside my home," she said.
When she finally reached the door, she began pounding to get her husband John's attention.
"I opened the door, and there she was covered in blood from her shoulders to her feet," he said. "The dog was still after her, so I shot it once with a 20 gauge shotgun and it kept coming so I shot it again. It still kept coming, so I grabbed a 30.30 rifle and shot it again," he said.
The last shot dropped the dog and allowed Hulsey to check on his wife.
"I grabbed a water hose and sprayed her off and then got her in the vehicle and took her to the hospital," he said.
In the emergency room, doctors worked several hours stitching her wounds, cleaning the bites and bandaging the woman.
"I had 50-plus stitches, puncture wounds, scrapes and dog bites everywhere. I still can't walk and have to use a wheelchair for the time being," she said.
Rabies testing on the dog proved negative so she does not have to undergo the series of shots had the tests proved positive.
Smith County Sheriff's Lt. Gary Middleton said the investigation is ongoing and he confirmed illegal dog fighting does occur in the county.
"We know it goes on, but these people move around and we have to find the location while the fights are going on to catch them. Unfortunately, finding an old location doesn't really help us find those involved," he said.
Middleton said each day animal control officers are catching pit bull mixes that are strays.
Mrs. Hulsey faces a long road of recovery from the traumatic experience, but she said her life will not change.
"I have lived in this house a long time and I will walk down to the mailbox as soon as I am able. I'm not going to let this incident change that," she said.
Mrs. Hulsey's daughter is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the owner of the dog which attacked her mother.
Anyone with information about the dog can call Linda Kay Makin at 409-833-2827.
Updated Friday, July 30, 2010 at 3:58 p.m. CDT
Updated Friday, July 30, 2010 at 3:58 p.m. CDT
