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Biting dog back was her last idea

As she recovers at home, a woman who fought off a Rottweiler Friday says she thought she was going to die.

By EMILY NIPPS
Published September 17, 2006

TAMPA - It was the most terrifying moment of Danielle Nelson's life.

Screaming and struggling Friday against a 100-pound Rottweiler that had its teeth buried deep in her right arm, she thought she was going to die.

Every attempt to fend off the dog only seemed to make it more vicious, shaking its head, its jaws clamped tightly.

Slamming a door on its neck made it worse.

So the frantic Nelson, 20, bent over the growling dog, pressed her face against its muzzle and bit down hard on its upper lip.

The dog let go.

"There wasn't nothing else I could do," she said.

She was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital.

The dog, Roscoe, belonged to Robert B. Garrett, the landlord of the home Nelson was visiting when she was attacked.

The animal was seized from the home at 1511 E 27th Ave. and euthanized hours later.

After spending the night in the hospital, Nelson was back at home Saturday afternoon, running an occasional fever and crying from the pain.

She had surgery on her right arm. Her arms, left ankle and back of her right thigh were stitched and bandaged.

Throughout the day Saturday, Nelson's siblings, friends and relatives tended to her at her home on Chelsea and 40th streets, where she lives with her grandmother.

She lay on the couch in her nightgown, next to a television set that blared reports of her nightmare from time to time on the news.

It was a startling sight to those who came to visit the young woman, who was a Dancerette and step team coach at Middleton High School and is now a cashier at Wal-Mart and attends Concorde Career Institute to become a medical assistant.

"I lost it when I found out the girl on news reports who got bitten was her," said Minnie Green, Nelson's great-aunt. "I thought, 'Oh my God, not my niece.' Nothing like this has ever happened to our family."

Drowsy from painkillers, Nelson tried to relay the story as best she could.

About 3:45 on Friday, she went to pick up her friend Shamika Dorsey to finish putting braids in Dorsey's hair.

Dorsey's home is behind Garrett's house, so Nelson had to go through a gate and pass Roscoe, which she had done several times before.

But this time, Nelson noticed Roscoe's chain looked a little thinner than usual. She walked through the yard anyway, because Roscoe had never seemed threatening.

"Next thing I know, he started moving," Nelson said. "I heard the chain pop, and I jumped in a toy box in the yard. He got me by my leg and then my left arm, and he pulled me down."

Nelson got up and tried to run back to the gate, but the dog lunged at her, clamping down on her right arm. She dragged the dog to Dorsey's front door, screaming and hitting the dog on the head. Dorsey's mother, Linda, opened the door just enough to let Nelson in and slam the door on Roscoe's neck.

Each time Dorsey slammed the door, the dog clamped down harder and Nelson cried out for her to stop. That's when Nelson bit the dog, and it finally let go. Nelson rushed to a telephone and called 911.

"I could see veins and bone in my arm," she said. She had her friend tear off part of her brown spaghetti-strap top and wrap it around the wound and doused herself with water to cool down.

On Saturday, Nelson was happy to hear Roscoe had been euthanized. Garrett, the dog's owner, could not be reached for comment, but Nelson said he had visited her in the hospital and apologized.

The Hillsborough County Department of Animal Services is investigating the attack, but no charges had been filed Saturday.

Nelson said she never wants to see another Rottweiler, or any big dog, again. They might be difficult to avoid, though. Her grandmother's neighbors own a Rottweiler, and similar types of big dogs on chains are seen throughout the neighborhood.

"They're the worst dogs they ever put on the street," said Green, Nelson's aunt. "They need to put them all asleep."

Emily Nipps can be reached at nipps@sptimes.com or (813) 269-5313.

[Last modified September 17, 2006, 00:37:52]