TH woman warns fellow pet owners after vicious dog attack

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WISH) – They are the famous last words, “My dog won’t bite,” well at least that’s what Billie Edwards thought until last Friday.

“I looked up and seen teeth and jaws coming at me,” she told 24-Hour News 8’s sister station, WTHI.

Edwards said out of no where, Bob, a three-year old Bull Mastiff mix, turned on her.

“He went into full, what I call it, kill mode. There was nothing that would have stopped him,” she said.

Edwards had raised Bob since he was a puppy, and said he never showed any signs of aggression.

“It was just totally unexpected,” she said.

Edwards also had a female dog in the house, which had not been spayed.

“The female was in heat, and she had other dogs in the house as well. I think the dog was agitated, and I think he just snapped,” said Laurie Tharp, with Terre Haute Code Enforcement.

Dog attacks are one of the nation’s most commonly reported public health problems. The Hoosier state is ranked 9th in the country for dog bites.

Here’s a staggering statistic, more than 4.5-million people are bitten each year, that’s why Tharp said if you own an animal it’s important to be responsible.

“I know a lot of people say, you can come into my yard my dog won’t hurt anybody, but it’s an animal, and every animal has the potential to bite. Keep it fenced in a yard or on a leash, especially when people are out during the summer,” Tharp said.

Edwards is alive today thanks to her nephew. He shot and killed the dog in self-defense.

“If he wouldn’t have been there I would have been dead,” she said.

Edwards said she has a warning for pet owners.

“Make sure you get them spayed and neutered when they are puppies, and it would prevent anything like this happening maybe to somebody little who couldn’t fend them off,” she said.