Caren Henry said she was just walking her dog, Kandy, near her father-in-laws home in rural Madrid when she saw something out of the corner of her eye.
“This dog came racing across this yard, a big dog,” she said.
Caren says a 50-60 pound Labrador mix, ran straight towards her and started attacking.
“It got me here and I had my sunglasses on which I’m glad I did because I think it might have taken my eye as well as my nose, then it knocked me down and then it went after my dog,” says Caren Henry.
Caren’s husband, Laine, was driving to pick her up when he saw the attack and jumped out to help.
“Caren turned and looked at me and I seen her face was nothing but blood, so I bit the dog literally in the nose and he let go and I grabbed our dog and I grabbed her and I put them in our pick-up and took off,” says Laine Henry.
The dog also bit Caren’s thigh and abdomen.
She will have to have several reconstructive surgeries to fix her nose.
Laine is recovering from the bite to his arm.
“It could have been a lot worse, he could have got my neck, he could have taken my eye,” Caren says.
The Henry’s say they’re concerned with the dog and what will be done.
Police records show the dog attacked another dog in 2012 in Des Moines.
The Henry’s lawyer found the dog was then placed at a friend’s home in Madrid where it was living the day of the attack.
Regardless, the Henry’s say it shouldn’t have been allowed to roam free.
“I`m a dog lover and I can understand wanting to keep your dog, but if you know your dog’s done this why don`t you have this tied up, why don`t you have it in a kennel, why is it running loose in someone`s yard,” says Carin Henry.
“It should have already been taken care of it shouldn’t have not been on a leash and I’m pretty upset about the whole thing,” says Laine Henry.
In Dallas County there is no vicious dog ordinance, so the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office turned the case over to the county’s Environmental Health Office.
The director says the animal has been ordered to be quarantined for 14 days.
After that period, if a vet clears the dog, it will be free and the case will be closed.
(whotv.com - May 3, 2013)
