"All I could see was foam and teeth," the 89-year-old Geneva woman said from her hospital bed Saturday, two days after the dangerous dog's unprovoked attack outside her rural Seminole County home. "I'm really surprised I'm alive today."
Meitzler screamed and hit her neighbor's pit-bull mix with her walking cane.
"It didn't faze him a bit," she said. The dog's owner, Thomas Filiault, eventually pulled the dog off.
"He said, 'Oh, Betty, I am so sorry this is happening,'" Meitzler said.
The dog is facing euthanasia now that it has attacked two people. Kira bit her daughter in April outside Meitzler's home on First Street.
As a result, it was labeled a dangerous dog — a designation that requires the owner to pay fees and take certain precautionary measures, including keeping it confined or restrained.
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| The was declared dangerous after attacking the victim's daughter |
The owner surrendered Kira to Animal Services, which is continuing to investigate and has custody. Kira's owner would not comment.
Meitzler is recovering at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Doctors don't know when she will leave.
"I've had eight dogs in my life, and I've never had anything happen like that," Meitzler said.
(Orlando Sentinel - May 25, 2013)
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