Shannon Garvey and her dog Sport Martin Garvey Junior Photo submitted
Shannon Garvey was out for her morning run with her dog Wednesday when she saw a small woman struggling with two large bull mastiff type dogs up ahead.
Hours after being attacked and mauled by one of the dogs, Garvey was in the trauma unit at Allegheny General Hospital, undergoing surgery to clean up wounds and reattach her muscles.
Hours after being attacked and mauled by one of the dogs, Garvey was in the trauma unit at Allegheny General Hospital, undergoing surgery to clean up wounds and reattach her muscles.
advertisement
Sport Martin Garvey Junior had to be sent to a Vet Hospital. Photo submitted. “I had two-plus hours of surgery to clean out mulch and reattach muscles. The bites went down to bone.”
Ambridge Police Chief James Mann said police plan to charge the dogs' owner, Jennifer Krummert of 14th Street.
Garvey, 34, who had gone down 14th Street in Ambridge, said the leash of one of the dogs was on the ground and she tried to pick up her pace to get out of the area quickly.
“A stray cat darted into the street, realized it was surrounded by dogs and ran back towards my side of the street. By then, the two dogs had knocked over their owner and dragged her across the street.”
Garvey picked up her dog because she didn’t want him to start a fight, but the larger dog--which she believes was a bull mastiff--clamped into her shoulder, brought her down and dragged her into a mulch bed.
“He started to shake it's head while clamped,” she said. “I carry a small pocket knife on me during my runs so while the dog was clamped onto my left, I used my right arm to get my knife out and stab it as much as possible.”
The dog released Garvey then started to bite down on her left arm. When she got sight of its throat, she swiped at it with her knife. The dog backed off enough and the owner’s son came out and restrained them.
Garvey wonders what could have happened if she were someone more vulnerable, such as an elderly person or a toddler.
“I could have been a resident at Elderberry or a small child,” she said.
Garvey, who moved to Ambridge from Bloomfield a month ago, will need physical therapy and have to off work as a dental assistant for at least a month. Her dog, Sport Martin Garvey Junior, suffered throat trauma, puncture wounds to the throat and other injuries, and is on a regimen of antibiotics and pain medication.
Garvey’s mother, Karen Garvey of Ambridge, said the dog’s owner stood and did nothing to help during the attack.
“My daughter was dragged through the tree pits by this bull mastiff,” she said.
A Similar Incident in 2015
This isn’t the first time Krummert's dogs have attacked in Ambridge in that area of Merchant Street.
According to police, a borough man was attacked in November while jogging along 14th Street. when he noticed a large pit bull come off his leash. He ran to a nearby parking lot, but the dog knocked the man to the ground and started biting his hands, following by the second dog that came up and attacked him.
The owner of the dogs, Jennifer Krummert, was charged with reckless endangerment, failing to confine a dog and failing to have vaccinations.
Krummert told police at the time, according to a report, that the dogs were just playing with the victim. She made no attempt to stop the attack although the man pleaded for her to get the dogs, police said. Police said the man was bleeding profusely from a large bite in his rib cage. She was given probation.
Note: This story was updated with additional information at 4:30 p.m.
A Go Fund Me Page has been set up to assist Shannon and her dog Sport with their medical expenses. Click here.
advertisement
advertisement
RSS Feed