Woman left with horrific injuries to her face and arm after two pit bulls attacked her as she walked small dog

CALIFORNIA -- A mother has been disfigured and left with horrific injuries after being attacked by two pit bulls as she walked her dog earlier this month.

The woman, identified only as Tina, had to have her arm stapled together and was left unable to close one of her eyes because of the extent of the injuries to her face.

The two dogs, which had escaped from a yard, were euthanized after the mid-morning attack in Riverside, Calfornia, on August 12.

'So much of her arm was eaten away ... they can't even close the wound,' attorney John Carpenter told KTLA 5.

Her son, Chris, said he was shocked by the attack, adding: 'They almost ripped her cheek all the way off.'

Tina has been left with permanent nerve damage to her arm and eye, and the injuries to her tricep are so severe that the wound cannot be closed at the moment.

The attack was so horrific that a neighbor who rushed to help Tina said he was still haunted by what he saw weeks for weeks after it.

'I lay in bed thinking about other things I could have done,' Terry Fury said, adding: 'The closer I got, the more blood I could see.'

He said: 'I heard screaming. Screaming like you [hear] in the movies. Like people being attacked by monsters.'

Mr Fury managed to kick one of the dogs away and then help the owner pull the second dog off. He said Tina had her hands over her face.

The pit bulls, aged two and four-months-old, had escaped from their yard and attacked Tina as she walked her small dog, Max, according to NBC Los Angeles.

As the dogs charged towards her, she grabbed her dog to keep him safe. He survived the attack but is said to be traumatized.

The owner, who said the animals were family pets, was cited $100 for having two stray animals and an unlicensed adult dog.

Mr Carpenter, who plans to bring a civil case on behalf of Tina, claimed the owner had not done enough to ensure his dogs were safely locked away.

'It's not an accident when you have a gate that doesn't retain those dogs,' he told KTLA 5. 'They took the effort to put a Beware of the Dog sign on the gate but didn't take any effort to make sure the gate was securely closed.'

The owner handed the dogs over to animal control officers after the attack, who arranged for them to be euthanized.

'This poor woman was just walking down the street and attacked without provocation. Her injuries are very serious,' animal services director Robert Miller said.

(Daily Mail - Aug 27 2013)

Earlier:

• Pit Bulls Nearly Rip Off Woman's Cheek in Riverside
• Rescuer describes pit bulls’ attack on woman
• Woman recovering from pit bull attack in Riverside County