Dragged down the stairs by pit bull which broke her arm and turned it into "hamburger" meat, woman says she still loves pit bulls

OREGON -- A pit bull which attacked a grandmother has a history of biting people, animal control officers say.

Kimberly Shay and a friend each were severely bitten Thursday, and the 2-year-old pit bull named Smokey dragged her down a set of stairs when she tried to escape. Shay has a broken arm and both have multiple puncture wounds.

Smokey will sit in a double-fenced quarantine enclosure at Multnomah County Animal Shelter for the next few weeks. Investigators say they've labeled him a Level 4 animal, the most aggressive type of dog.

In Wilmington, Del., police shot and killed a dog, described as a pit bull, after it attacked a woman and child. The woman was taken to a local hospital in serious condition.

In Oregon, investigators traced Smokey, who weighs 95 pounds and has a microchip, to two other past bite reports, none of them involving children.

Shay, who rents out an apartment in her basement, said she gave her tenant permission to let Smokey stay there one night. The dog's owner is a friend of the tenant.

Shay said she went down the basement steps with her friend Thursday to see if the dog was still in the house. Investigators say Smokey had been left alone inside the apartment.

When Shay and her friend, Terry, opened the door, the dog lunged at them.

The dog bit Terry several times and my mom was trying desperately to get the dog off of him to the point where she ended up biting the dog to try and get him off," said Sara Schmeer, Shay's daughter.

"That's when the dog turned on her."

The attack left her bloodied.

"He just ripped me apart. I've got a broken arm," Shay said. "I mean, just hamburger for arms, and I've got a bite on my leg, too."

When she finally broke free, the dog attacked again.

"She finally got to the stairs and started to crawl up the stairs but the dog grabbed her by the back of the leg and pulled her back down the stairs," Schmeer said.

The attack lasted nearly 30 minutes before Shay managed to get out the door, leaving the dog inside.

Disoriented, she ran to a nearby fire station for help where firefighters called an ambulance.

A pit bull owner herself, Shay never expected this.

"I love pits and I love my little pit, you know?" she said. "I don't want this to be a bad reflection on all pit bulls. I want this to be a reflection on any dog that is vicious."

Animal Control officers said they have interviewed Smokey's owner, who wants him back. By state law, Smokey will be quarantined for 10 days.

Investigators will factor in the dog's bite history with a behavior assessment to decide if he's too dangerous to be a pet. They say a dog biting someone out of fear is treated differently than a full-on attack.

(USA Today - Oct 7, 2014)