ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orlando woman says she and her dog were attacked by a pit bull as she was walking in a shopping plaza. She’s warning others to be careful.
Shirley Pasamanick said it came out of nowhere.
“All of a sudden, my dog’s getting attacked,” she said.
In surveillance video, you can hear Pasamanick screaming and her 14-year-old dog Sparky crying for help as she tried fighting off the pit bull.
“I had my cane, I started beating him with the cane,” she said.
And when that didn’t stop the big dog from attacking Sparky, Pasamanick, who weighs only 91 pounds, decided to bite it.
“I had my hands on his mouth and tried to open its mouth. And I couldn’t do it because I wasn’t strong enough, so I leaned down and bit him on the back of his neck,” she said.
The dog suddenly stopped when its owner arrived. Pasamanick said the owner “grabbed his leash, walked away, didn’t check on us to see how we were.”
She doesn’t know the man, who just walked away with his dog without saying a word.
She had a bite mark and scraps from the attack. But the soon-to-be 70-year-old explained what really hurt her the most was that no one came to help. People just watched, leaving her on the ground to fend for herself, even after the dog left.
“I’d felt better if someone would have helped me,” Pasamanick said.
The attack has left her shaken physically and emotionally.
As for the dog that attacked her, she said, “He needs to be put down. Something has to be done. I was shaking for days after this happened.”
Orange County Animal Control is investigating.
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