Woman attacked by pit bull clings to life

Adam Huening

June 16, 2008 06:43 pm

— Editor’s Note: This story contains graphic details that may be unsettling to some readers. Discretion is advised.

A local woman is fighting for her life after being mauled by her own dog.
Annette Williams, 615 W. North St., was reported to be in Methodist Hospital after her pit bull turned on her and attacked the woman in her fenced-in backyard Saturday morning.
Monday, details surrounding the cause of the attack were still unknown. However, the events and injuries were coming to light. According to Greensburg Police Chief Brian Heaton, the GPD received a 911 call at 6:21 a.m. regarding a woman screaming in the 600 block of West North Street. Heaton said an officer canvassed the area but discovered nothing suspicious nor did the officer hear anything out of the ordinary.
Just after 7, Laura Irvine was leaving the home of Joyce Helt, who lives across the alley from Williams. As she walked to her car, Irvine heard a faint call for help behind the brown privacy fence surrounding the backyard of the house next door.
“I heard her cry for help. It was really faint. Then she called out ‘Joyce.’ She must have heard the (back door) shut and called for help. We couldn’t hear her inside,” Irvine said.
The woman went to investigate, walking to the back of Williams’ yard where the fence was lower.
“When I got near the fence, the dog jumped up at the fence, barking and growling right in my face,” Irvine said.
When she stepped back from the fence and looked around the dog, she could see the scene. Williams was laying in the middle of the yard. Red blood stained green blades of grass, the side of the garage and the garage door. Everything in the yard had been knocked over and Williams was barely able to speak.
Irvine called 911 at 7:17 a.m., according to Heaton, and waited with Williams. She tried to keep her calm, she said, as the dog barked, growled and paced back and forth.
“I kept telling her help was on the way,” Irvine said. “Anytime she would yell ‘help’ or try to talk, the dog would run around her and bark at her.”
When officers arrived, the dog stood its ground. Heaton said Lt. Fred Huser and Officer Jarrod McCalvin were unable to enter the backyard. With the dog’s aggressive behavior and the woman’s condition, the officers acted quickly, Heaton said, and drew their weapons, destroying the pit bull.
“They absolutely had no other option but to shoot the dog,” Heaton said. “They both did a superb job. Unfortunately, they had to destroy it, but they did what they had to do to help that person as quickly as possible, and apparently just in time.”
With the dog dead, paramedics could finally access the yard to help Williams. The viciousness of the attack gave her little time as she bled profusely on the lawn. Williams was rushed to the hospital, Heaton said, and later transported to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. According to Irvine and Helt, Williams’ left arm was completely amputated and doctors were waiting to see how the infection healed before determining if she would lose her right arm as well. Helt said doctors had not determined if the attack would be fatal.
Heaton said officers had no known cause for the attack. Irvine said Willams and her husband had raised the 3 to 5-year-old male pit bull since it was a puppy. As she tried to comfort Williams, the woman told Irvine she let him out like she did every morning and this time, he turned on her and attacked.
The viciousness of the attack, Heaton said, was evident to anyone who was at the scene. Even officers who had seen their share of brutality had a hard time dealing with it. The pit bull did not merely attack his owner, Heaton said.
“Lt. Huser described it as ‘the grossest thing he had ever seen in 32-plus years on the force,’” Heaton said. “The dog was literally eating her to death.”
Irvine and Helt agreed they had never seen anything like it and hoped this served as a wake up call to people who keep these animals as pets. Irvine said despite the fact it was a vision she may never forget, she wasn’t leaving Williams until the police arrived.
“It was just a mess, blood everywhere, bones, bones sticking out of her flesh, and it wasn’t just bites, it was just chunks taken out,” Irvine recalled, the horror visible on her face as she recalled that Saturday morning. “It’s something that stays with you, all day and into the night. I’m still seeing it in my mind. I still think about it.”
Heaton noted since the dog was owned by Williams, and it was properly contained in accordance to city ordinance, no criminal charges will be followed and the investigation is closed.

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