A 75-year-old woman was viciously attacked by her own two dogs in Valley Stream, in Nassau County, according to Eyewitness News ABC7NY. The mauling unfolded on her front lawn and left neighbors who witnessed it shaken by what they described as a brutal scene.
According to the account gathered by the station, the attack began when the woman's two dogs tried to go after a mail carrier. When the owner stepped in to intervene, the dogs turned on her instead, knocking her to the ground.
Nassau police, who responded to the scene just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday, said the woman suffered multiple lacerations in the attack. Neighbors said the dogs would not get off of her as the mauling continued.
People who live nearby scrambled to intervene, hitting the animals with a broom, yelling and throwing water on them to try to distract the dogs. "We threw water at the dogs, trying to distract them, and her clothes were all torn up, and it was terrifying," one neighbor said.
The two pit bull mixed dogs eventually left the victim, according to neighbors. One went to the backyard, while the other could be seen on the front stoop licking blood off itself. Exclusive video showed one of the dogs on a catch pole being removed from the property by Town of Hempstead Animal Control.
The victim was transported to the hospital, and police said she was in stable condition. The mail carrier who was first targeted was doing well, according to a source who said he was very upset by the incident but more worried about how the woman was doing.