Dog That Attacked an Oregon Woman Has a History of Biting

Animal control officers say that the pit bull who attacked a grandmother in Oregon has a history of biting people. According to USA Today, Kimberly Shay and a friend were both injured in a pit bull attack last week.

According to Shay, the pit bull, a two-year-old, 95-pound male named Smokey, was staying in the basement apartment that she rents out to a tenant. The owner of the dog is a friend of the tenant staying in the apartment, and Shay gave her tenant permission to keep the dog in the apartment for one night.

Thursday, Shay descended the basement stairs with a friend named Terry when the dog, which had been left alone, attacked the pair. The dog lunged at Terry as he opened the door, which prompted Shay to bite the dog in an attempt to stop the attack. According to Shay’s daughter Sara Schmeer, “that’s when the dog turned on her.”

Both Shay and her friend suffered puncture wounds and Shay’s arm was broken in the attack.

“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.”

“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,” added Schmeer.

According to Shay, the attack lasted about 30 minutes. When she was able to free herself from the dog, she ran to a fire station, where firefighters called an ambulance for her.

Since Smokey has a microchip, officials were able to determine that he had bitten other people in Oregon. The dog is quarantined at the Multnomah County Animal Shelter and has been labeled as a Level 4 animal, which is the most aggressive kind of dog.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4.5 million Americans are bitten by dogs each year. An estimated 885,000 of these bites need medical attention, and about 12 to 15 victims die of infections as a result of dog bites.