The Pit Bull Locked Eyes With Me. Then Clamped My Throat

Back in 2020, I was semi-retired with a husband who traveled for work, and I was left home alone frequently. On May 13 of that year, a friend in my neighborhood stopped by my house on her bicycle and suggested we go for a ride. She had a friend a few streets over who had just purchased a home and thought it might be good for us to meet.

We arrived at the house and parked our bikes on the public sidewalk. I stayed on the sidewalk while she knocked on the storm door. The woman opened the door, and two dogs behind her burst out. One of her dogs, an American pit bull, made eye contact with me immediately and charged toward me, running completely around my 5 foot 10 friend who was in the dog's way.

I had never been afraid of dogs of any kind or size and had previously been around friends with pit bull breeds. I stood still, thinking that he was just going to jump on me. He launched and went airborne, and then his mouth opened, and he went directly for my throat. He clamped onto my throat, which knocked me backward, and he fell off me.

I immediately rolled onto my stomach, grabbed my throat, and buried my face while he proceeded to run back around and take more bites to my face. I was in a tank top, shorts, and flip-flops, but he wanted my face.

The woman's boyfriend and co-owner of the dogs was around back and pulled the animal off me. I was bleeding profusely from my throat, and the three of them—my friend and the two dog owners—were frantically "discussing" what to do while I yelled: "Can someone please get me something to stop this bleeding?"

The male owner ran inside and grabbed a t-shirt that still had tags on it, and I held it to my throat while they continued to talk about what to do. I told them that someone needed to call 911.

The ambulance arrived, and while they were loading me inside, the male owner shouted: "I'm sick of this. I'm going to put the dog down." I yelled out: "No, don't do that!" I asked how bad I looked because I wasn't in any pain. The male owner said: "Oh, you're okay. You only need a few stitches."

But I looked at the paramedic, and he was in shock. He asked if he could take a few photos of my face with my phone. When he handed me my phone afterward, I looked at the pictures.

I felt like I was in a dream—it wasn't real. I was extremely calm. I started replaying everything back in my head, and the owner's comment: "I'm sick of this." I then realized I most likely wasn't the dog's first victim.

I was taken to the local hospital where they did x-rays, a cat scan, MRI, blood work, and more. Around 1:00 a.m., I was told that I could not be treated as my neck wound was too severe, and the doctors would need to find a trauma center with a plastic surgeon to treat me. I arrived at the trauma center by ambulance at 4:00 a.m.

I didn't undergo surgery until a day later at midnight and spent a total of three days in the hospital. There were numerous follow-up appointments, and it took a year for everything to heal. I have scars, but the plastic surgeon did an excellent job.

The owner did not have dog coverage on his homeowners' insurance; this is not a requirement in Florida. My health insurance paid the $85,000 hospital bill, and I had to pay a $15,000 deductible. The owner did agree to pay my out-of-pocket expenses of $15,000, but three years later, he still owes me $3,000.

He did voluntarily have the dog euthanized after the quarantine period.

I joined some pit bull victim Facebook pages and have since become aware and obsessed with how many innocent victims—both animal and human—are attacked daily by these dogs.

I am amazed by how many people still believe "it's how they are raised." It's in their DNA—there is no doubt. There are too many incidents where the pit bull has been raised as a puppy, and it turns for no reason years later.

I show my photos and my story every chance I get in hopes that I can save someone from it happening to them. Unfortunately, most people need to learn the hard way.

I will never let myself or my Shih Tzus be anywhere near one of these animals. I won't put myself at that risk now that I know how quickly it can happen.

Rhonda Sitterly was attacked by a pit bull in May 2020. She has since joined pit bull victim Facebook pages and aims to tell her story in hopes of raising awareness of pit bull attacks.

All views expressed in this article are the author's own.

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