Comments
ANIMAL WATCH - One week before her 70th birthday, Shirley Pasamanick, fought off a Pit Bull that attacked her small terrier dog, who is 14 years old, and she won the battle, 13ABC News reports.
After a terrifying struggle against the very aggressive and much larger dog, Shirley sunk her teeth into the back of the Pit Bull’s neck, and it released its hold on her. A man just “grabbed his leash and walked away. Didn’t check on us to see how we were.” she told WTFX reporters.
The station reported, “She showed a bite mark and scrapes from the attack. But, what really hurt her most was that no one came to help. People just watched, leaving her on the ground to fend for herself.”
“NO ONE CAME TO HELP”
I’d have felt better if someone would have helped me,” she told reporters. She said she is “shaken physically and emotionally. Something has to be done.” Pasamanick ‘s son created a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for Sparky’s vet expenses
Woman, 71, Mauled by 10 to 15 Vicious Pit Bull Dogs Found Lying on a Front Porch with 'Severe Lacerations'
A 71-year-old woman, Mary Norwood, was seriously injured in an attack that involved multiple dogs in Tennessee, on September 6, 2025.
Witnesses and other bystanders were able to pull the dogs away from the elderly woman after the attack, authorities added.
The victim was transported to the University of Tennessee Hospital in serious condition, according to the MCSO news release.
“I’ve seen dog bites, I’ve seen dog attacks, but I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Sue Pettingill, the MCSO’s public information officer, per local news outlet WVLT, “Nobody would have been able to get those dogs off of themselves because there were just too many of them.”
The woman was found lying on her front porch, according to reports.
The attack occurred at her rural home near Madisonville (above).
In an article updated on September 8, 2025, the 71-year-old woman was found on the front porch of a home in Madisonville, Tennessee, where she had been attacked by 10 to 15 dogs—mostly Pit Bulls and Pit-mix-breeds, the sheriff said.
Witnesses are credited with saving her life when they intervened and pulled the pack of attacking dogs away from her, according to investigators in East Tennessee. There was no description of the condition of the dogs.
The victim, Mary Norwood, was rushed to the hospital. Monroe County Sheriff Tommy Jones said in a news release: “Upon arrival, deputies located a 71-year-old female lying on the front porch of the residence. The victim had severe lacerations to her body as a result of a dog attack from multiple dogs.”
Witnesses and other bystanders helped corral the dogs away from the victim following the attack, so that emergency services could reach her and provide immediate medical relief. She was transported to the University of Tennessee Hospital.
INVESTIGATION: OWNERS OF THE PIT BULLS IDENTIFIED
The investigation resulted in two men and two women being charged with “12 counts of possessing dogs without rabies vaccination and 26 counts of animal cruelty,” according to the report, which also stated that they are being charged with a felony for “keeping animals at large, resulting in serious injury, which is a felony, officers said.
Sara Jane Burris Ricky Lee Burris Clayton Warren Davis Sheila Jenene Kryzak
(Photos provided by Sheriff Tommy Jones/Facebook)
Following a thorough investigation by Monroe County Criminal Investigation Division Detectives and Monroe County Animal Control Officers, four people were charged with animals at large, resulting in a serious injury, a class E felony.
And, each of the four suspects was charged with 12 counts of dogs without rabies vaccinations and 26 counts of animal cruelty, the MCSO said in an updated news release on Sept. 8.
Animal control removed 27 dogs from the residence. “One dog belongs to the victim, 13 dogs belonging to the suspects were adult dogs and 13 dogs were puppies,” the MCSO said.
There was no further information at that time on the condition of the victim in the attack.
Pettingill told WBIR, this “wasn’t the first time that dogs have been removed from the property.“ However, she indicated “it was the first time someone has been injured so badly because of the canines.
HAS “NO KILL” BECOME CRUELTY TO ANIMALS AND HUMANS?
Best Friends Animal Society has become the national leader in advocating against dog-breed limits and opposing breed-specific legislation targeting pit bulls and assures us that “all dogs are individuals who should be judged on their behavior, not their breed.”. The organization also advocates for “No Kill,” which restricts euthanizing animals due to behavior. But it does not offer a solution for the massive number of impounded animals overcrowding U.S. animal shelters and starving in our streets now.
DEALING WITH REALITY
Animal control officers confiscated 27 Pit-Bull type dogs in all, including 13 puppies, Jones said; yet, every animal control district has a limit on the number of animals that can be kept safely on one property, due to the danger of territorial and/or disease – especially rabies or other maladies that can be trans to bomissible to animals and/or to humans—and the overcrowding which results in massive fighting, especially with unaltered animals during breeding season.
This incident occurred in Madisonville, which is about 30-miles west of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, according to reports.
Authorities had not confirmed Norwood’s condition following the dog attack.
“I don’t know what her long-term issues are going to be from this because it was a very, very vicious attack. I’ve never seen or heard anything like this before,” Pettingill said, per WVLT. “There was nothing she could do. She was very vulnerable and helpless in that situation.”
“Upon arrival of Monroe County EMS, the female victim was treated on scene and subsequently transported to the University of Tennessee Hospital for further medical treatment,” the MCSO said in its news release.
THE NEED TO PROTECT THE ELDERLY FROM DOG ATTACKS
While most concern about dog bites is centered on children, who are smaller in stature and most likely to engage in acts that could be construed by a dog as threatening, Pit Bulls carry the bloodlines and genetics of animals bred to weaken or kill another animal in bull-baiting and dog-fighting matches. Thus, they are sensitive to aging and physical decline as a sign of weakness and vulnerability, and aggressive breeds may react according to their most basic instinct.
Addendum:
NO CHARGES AFTER WOMAN, 71, AND HER DACHSHUND ARE SERIOUSLY INJURED AT DOG PARK
A 70-year-old woman in Morehead, N.C., learned that no charges will be brought against the owner of two dogs that attacked her and her Dachshund in a dog park on September 11, 2025. The victim told police that she brought her dog to the Morehead City Dog Park around 4:45 p.m. and went to the "small dog" section.
Morehead City police agreed the incident happened around 4:45 p.m. at the Morehead City Dog Park, which is located within Rotary Park, and a dog jumped over the fence from the "large dog" area and attacked her tiny dog in the small-dog area. When she tried to stop the attack, she said, "another dog attacked her."
DOG OWNERS SHARE REACTIONS
“I was really sad for the woman and kind of curious as to why the other woman [dog owner] hadn’t trained her dogs as much,” Debbie Outlaw said. “But not being here, you can’t say anything.”
The district attorney decided no charges would be brought against the owner of the two dogs, according to police, as the case “does not meet the elements for criminal charges.”
(Phyllis M. Daugherty is a former Los Angeles City employee and a long-time animal welfare advocate. A contributor to CityWatchLA, she is known for her investigative reporting on animal shelter operations, misuse of public funds, and the dangers of poorly regulated pet adoption policies. She is a strong proponent of public safety in animal control, advocating for stricter oversight of aggressive dog breeds, especially pit bulls, and for breed-specific legislation.)
