Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
PORT RICHEY - A 140-pound Rottweiler attacked its owners outside a Travelodge on Monday night, sending a 53-year-old woman to the hospital with a mangled left arm.
The woman was taken by helicopter to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, a Pasco Fire Rescue official said. Her husband was also injured in the attack, which occurred shortly after 7 p.m. at the motel on 11736 U.S. 19. The dog bit the man's left forearm. The man was taken to a local hospital for treatment, according to Pasco Fire Rescue.
Joe Macias, a laborer staying at the motel, witnessed the attack but stayed a distance. "The animal was too wild to get close," Macias said. "Her husband ran to help, but it bit him, too."
The husband was able to get the dog back in their room at the motel, Macias said. Animal Control officers were called to the scene. The victims' names were not released by Pasco Fire Rescue.
The attack was at least the third in three weeks in west Pasco. On Sept. 29 and again on Oct. 1, toddlers in Hudson were bitten in the face. The dog in the first incident was a pit bullterrier; a Chow mix attacked the second toddler.