I was attacked by a dog running at large through my parents' neighborhood while I was there for our weekly family dinner. My own dogs, a 6 and 10 lb Pomeranian, were on a leash as required by Florida law. I was unable to run away or jump a fence because I'm disabled with spinal issues, joint replacements, and multiple reconstructive surgeries.

The attack happened in seconds, and it has changed my world. The owners of the dog that attacked are related to a local deputy. Instead of being held responsible for breaking the law by not keeping their pet on a leash and letting it attack a disabled person, they are coming after me hard. I'm being treated like a criminal for defending myself and my dogs while minding my own business on my parents' property. From what I understand deputies and police officers kill over 10,000 pets every year and almost none of them ever face criminal charges or discipline for their actions. But yet when a normal everyday citizen defends their life they are run through the ringer. As this was all caught on camera it clearly shows exactly what happened and it will eventually work out in my favor through the court process but that costs a lot of money. It was textbook self-defense against an attacking animal. I was in a place where I was allowed to be. I was not committing any crimes. The dog was clearly a threat to my life and I could have been killed or seriously injured. My small dogs could have easily been killed and seriously injured. This dog has previously attacked my mother's 5 lb Chihuahua and injured him pretty severely. Where it took him weeks to recover. Of course I feel absolutely terrible as my heart breaks for having to defend myself against the dog. After defending myself you can see me crouched over the dog in tears trying to help it or at least comfort it in the last moments. This has changed my life forever it is not something I ever wanted to do or would wish for anyone else to have to do. I love dogs so much and can absolutely understand the pain of losing a dog. With that said I had no other choice. I wish I would have had another choice I would have taken it. Shortly after the attack a deputy asked me if my dogs were injured and I did not think they were but they had little blood speckles all over them but I didn't see any apparent wounds. When we got home we cleaned up my Pomeranians and there was a wound underneath one of their left eyes. A small puncture wound that was really close to taking the eye out. Thank goodness it didn't. I was also injured in the attack but that's due to how I was moving around trying to avoid getting bit. I tore a tendon in my shoulder and I messed up one of my toes on my foot pretty good.

I was previously attacked by a dog when I lived in another state I was unable to defend myself against it. It was about a 50 lb dog. I was bit through the forearm and while the wound seem to be quite superficial it was immensely bad. I literally lost about a liter and a half of blood and was blacking out from the blood loss. Thank goodness we were fairly close to a hospital as my heart was working very efficiently to pump the blood right out of my body. I did remove my t-shirt wrap it tightly and try to create a tourniquet out of my t-shirt it was not very effective. At the time I was also a volunteer firefighter where I worked Fire rescue. We were sent out on several dog attack calls, I remember one specifically of a little girl who had a cute little perfectly round pom pom on top of her head. Her mother must have sat there for an hour to get it that perfect. She was bit through the leg in the groin area the bite had severed and artery in her leg. A tourniquet was unable to stop the bleeding or even slow it. The little girl had no chance. I believe she was 7 years old. So you could say I am acutely aware of what kind of damage a dog is capable of inflicting on the human body.

With all of this being said please keep your fur babies on a leash or inside a fence for their safety. You never know when they are going to do something unsafe and it cost them their lives. Protect them and hold them dear for they are only with us for a short time do not let it be even shorter by not taking care of them and keeping them safe. Leash laws are there for a reason. Not only does it keep the animal safe but it keeps other people safe that the dog is not familiar with. My little fur babies are such a blessing to me and I can absolutely feel the pain of the people that owned the attacking dog. Because I feel it too. There are no winners here.

Also because of my new injuries I'm going to have a ton of extra copays that will need to be paid as well. On a fixed income it's going to be hard but I have faith that we will figure it out.

I need help covering the legal costs to fight back. Your support would mean so much as I work through this.