Dog Attacks Woman In Shelley

IDAHO -- A Shelley woman was recovering after she was attacked by a dog while running near her home on Wednesday morning.

Police said it's the same dog that viciously attacked another dog last month, and now they intend to euthanize him.

“I know what a chew toy feels like now,” Irene Prestridge said.

Prestridge cracked jokes on Thursday, but being attacked by a dog while out on her daily run only 24 hours earlier wasn't so funny.

“I've got a puncture mark on my jaw,” Prestridge said.

She was jogging down the 400 block of South Lincoln Road when Prestridge said a Bulldog mix came from behind and bit her backside.

“I faced him and yelled at him to go away and he just looked at me, came at me, jumped right at my face,” Prestridge said.

While the dog tore through her sweatshirt, Prestridge fought back in defense, protecting her neck and face.

Once he dragged her down to her knees she started screaming, but the dog just kept coming at her. It punctured both legs and crushed her hand.

“He had tore it from there, to there then he chomped on this side,” Prestridge said.

A handful of neighbors pulled the animal away. Covered in blood, Prestridge headed to a clinic for stitches. She shudders to think what might have happened if no one had been close by.

“This could happen to anybody and what scares me most is if it’s a child, there’s no way they could have fought that dog off,” she said.

Wednesday’s attack is part of a bigger, ongoing issue in the city of Shelley. Police said the dogs aren't the problem, it's the owners.

“This 5 percent of the population is the ones causing problems and unfortunately everyone else feels repercussions,” Officer Robert Tincher, who is investigating the attack, said.

Like residents on Brent Way, who were forced into buying mailboxes for curbside-only delivery after a mail carrier was attacked by a dog last fall.

Police recommend running with mace, advice Prestridge plans to take when she starts logging miles once again.

Officer Tincher advises us to not blame the breed,
but to blame the deed.

Officer Tincher petting the pit bull. 

“I will be much more aware,” she said.

And running even faster.

The dog is being held at the pound. Police are still trying to contact the owner, who will be issued another citation for having a dog at large.

(Local News8 - June 16, 2011)