Witnesses, police speak on dog attack that left a woman in critical condition
Update 7/6/18: Family & friends have started a GoFundMe page for the woman, Lauren Musick, to help pay for surgeries and bills. According to the page, she regained feeling in her fingers on Thursday. You can click here if you would like to donate.
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Palm Springs police say a woman was attacked by her own pit bull in an apartment Monday evening, on the 53000 block of Waverly Drive in Palm Springs.
Police said they had to tase the dog several times after it attempted to attack officers. The woman is currently in critical condition and the dog died while on the way to animal control.
Neighbors say they are are still recovering after the brutal attack.
“My friend Rueben Santiago was downstairs at the pool and she came out of her porch area screaming, ‘help me, help me, help me,” said Lorin Vuckan, a witness in the attack.
The man reportedly grabbed a pool net and was able to loop it around the dog’s neck momentarily so the woman could get away.
“By that point, the dog had already bit her in the face and you could see the jaw bone,” Vuckan added.
The woman took off running back into her home but as Vuckan recalls, the dog wasn’t finished.
“At that point, the dog went through, went around the entire complex here at the condos and when she ran out the front door, the dog was at the front door and tried to attack her again,” Vuckan said.
Neighbors said the woman had recently moved in and had told them she had rescued the pit bull.
“He was chained up and he was really badly abused,” said Courtney Crary, a neighbor, referring to how the woman had found dog before rescuing it four years ago.
“I know she loved the dog very much so I hope that she is okay and recovers as well as can be expected,” Vuckan added.
The woman has not been identified at this time Palm Springs Police Captain Mike Kovaleff said the woman was speaking before undergoing the first of many surgeries. He said the dog did not die from the taser.
Kovaleff also addressed online rumors that there were illegal drugs in the house, stating there were no illegal drugs found in the home. He added that they have no reason to believe fireworks sparked the dog’s reaction.
Police are conducting tests on the animal to try and figure out what agitated the dog.
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