Linda Ponting, 64, had a chunk ripped from her arm by the dog last week as she walked to her daughter's house a few doors down in New Brighton St.
Council animal controllers have seized the dog.
The owners say they "feel for the lady" but believe three-year-old Frankie deserves a second chance and want him back.
Home from surgery and nursing an arm with more than 30 stitches in it, Ponting said she would never be able to leave her home of 38 years if the owners won an appeal to have the dog freed.
Two dogs came racing at her "from nowhere", and one "just went for me and it took a great big chunk out of my arm".
She now could not walk past her gate. "If they get that dog back, I won't be able to leave my house."
Her daughter Yvonne said she would never forget the sound and sight of her hysterical mother cowering behind a gate to get away from the two barking dogs before they ran back to their owners, who were calling for them.
Council staff described the bulldog as a "psycho dog" which should be destroyed, she said.
"The owners, they just don't understand how fearful we will all be. We just don't want it back on this street."
Frankie's owner Meghan Duart-Maclean said it was "gutting" her "very lovely" family pet attacked Ponting. It was "human error" after she forgot to secure the gate while tending to her two young children. "The fact is I think he deserves a second chance. I understand why she doesn't want him back here but it's not fair."
He was not aggressive, but protective of his puppies on the property, she said. Duart-Maclean would hear tomorrow whether they could have him back.
She said she had since taken a lot more steps to contain the other dogs, and planned to get training for Frankie if he was returned.
(TVNZ-Jul 28, 2013)
