HOUSTON — A Montgomery County woman is grateful to be alive after a harrowing dog attack that left her and her family with multiple injuries.
The stitches on Michelle Means face only tell part of the story; on Thursday, she told KHOU 11 that her entire body was still in pain after a vicious encounter that sent her to the hospital.
Means was brutally mauled by eight pit bulls while attempting to help her son and pregnant daughter, who were initially attacked while walking near their home. She said another person in the neighborhood was also attacked though she doesn’t know how badly they were injured.
Means described the terrifying incident as a shocking and violent encounter.
"They're chomping down on you and just pulling you apart piece by piece," she said. The attack left her with serious wounds, requiring two surgeries and rabies treatment.
The incident happened Monday in the Willis neighborhood where Means and her daughter live just a few doors down from each other. At first, Means' 13-year-old son called her, crying and upset after he and his sister were bitten by the dogs. When Means rushed to help, she was surrounded by eight pit bulls that bit her face, neck, arms, and legs.
Despite the severity of her injuries, Means remains grateful.
“Everywhere they bit they got down to it, but they didn’t get muscle, they got down to the nerves, but they didn’t get the nerves,” she said. "It could've been so much worse, and I realize how blessed I am to get out of it the way I did.”
Although the dogs belonged to a neighbor she had seen before, Means does not blame the owners. After the encounter, she was informed the dogs could not be rehabilitated and would be put down.
"Even if a dog looks friendly, it doesn't mean it's friendly. Even if you don't provoke them, it doesn't mean they won't attack,” she said. “I don’t blame the owners, but I sure would hate for this to happen to anybody else.
Friends have established a GoFundMe to help cover the family's medical expenses.