Kylie Welch seen while hospitalized at a Pittsburgh trauma center after the dog attack.
The Vicious Attack
Meadowlands, PA - On April 9, 2017, Kylie Welch and her daughter survived a vicious dog attack while volunteering at Angel Ridge Animal Rescue, a no-kill rescue shelter that adopts out "special needs" and death row dogs. The male pit bull, "Dallas" had come to the rescue two days earlier and was placed in a pen labeled "friendly and playful." When Welch took the dog out for playtime, it unleashed a violent attack. Welch recently wrote into DogsBite.org to share her story.
Several months after the attack, the Observer-Reporter featured Kylie Welch and the man who came to her rescue in ExtraO-Rrdinary People.
Welch said at the time, "[The dog] didn’t just get hold of my arm. It was like when a dog plays with a rope toy, he was shaking his head, then regripping." Justin Killion, who rented a house nearby, rushed over and tackled the dog. He kicked and punched the dog and threw himself over Welch's body to shield her from the blood drenched canine. “He was relentless. He kept coming back," Killion said. Welch was bleeding so badly, Killion used his belt and a dog leash as tourniquets.
Welch was airlifted to Allegheny General Hospital where she underwent multiple surgeries for her extensive injuries, including massive muscle, tissue and tendon damage to her arms. One year after the attack, Welch spoke to WPXI. She recounted parts of the attack and said that Killion kept telling her, "Stay awake, stay awake. Don't die." Presently, Welch says that her physical condition has not improved over the last year and at times, the PTSD she suffers has been unbearable.
Dear Dogsbite.org,I used to be a volunteer at an animal rescue, along with 3 of my 5 children. The rescue encouraged me to take photos of my children playing with the dogs, to show how friendly they were. On April 9, 2017, my daughters Emaly and Haylee (4 years and 8 years old) went with me to walk a couple of dogs in the evening. We chose to walk Dallas, a gray pit bull, and after playing with us for about 10-15 minutes, he jumped on Emaly, knocked her down, and opened his mouth on her face. He didn't get to bite down, because I was already pushing him off of her. So he latched onto my arm. The attack lasted approximately 20 minutes, until a neighbor saved my life. My daughters listened to my screams, and when I stopped screaming they thought Dallas had killed me.
That was just over 2 years ago. Emaly still has PTSD and issues stemming from that. She is absolutely terrified of dogs. Big or small, no matter the breed. She was terrified of a Teddy Bear PUPPY. Haylee puts on a brave face, but the second she's around a loose dog, you can see the horror and panic in her face. My PTSD has been unbearable at times. My friends and family have become frustrated with my lack of "improvement" since the attack, because I refuse to ever trust any dog, anywhere, ever.
Physically, I'm not doing any better today than I was last year. My arms feel tighter, like I have less mobility. I'm in pain 24/7 and it never gets better. I can barely bend my wrists forward or back, washing my kids hair in the bath is awkward and difficult, holding babies scares me because I never know when my left hand will stop working causing me to drop things. I work in a daycare, and had to give up working in the infant room because I refused to take chances. I have horrible scars, all over both arms, including a skin graft on my left arm. The children I care for ask me every single day what my scars are. They're only 18-24 months old, and have no idea what this kind of scarring is.
I am constantly ridiculed and made fun of. People who have pit bulls or love them call me evil, stupid, a terrible mother, a waste of human life, you name it and I've heard it. All because I never want to see anyone suffer through anything like this again. People with dogs try to convince me that I shouldn't be afraid of their dog because their dog would never hurt a fly. When I can't bring myself to be near their dogs, I get made fun of or people become angry and insulted. This attack has forever changed my life, and the lives of my daughters, and the lives of my entire family. No pit bull is worth that cost.
Thank you,
Kylie Welch
An unprovoked dog attack is life altering. The attack may only last a few seconds too. This was a relentless 20-minute mauling with the intention of mutilating and killing. Like Tina Pounds, who sacrificed herself to save her grandson from a brutal pit bull attack, Welch sacrificed herself to save her daughter, who was the dog's initial target. "Dallas" was later euthanized. The dog's "rescuers" also bear the responsibility of destroying the human-canine bond Welch once had.
The WPXI interview stated that Welch intended to file a lawsuit against Angel Ridge Animal Rescue. The dog should not have been in a pen labeled "friendly and playful." We hope the outcome of the lawsuit will provide Welch and her family with some degree of closure. Yet, no amount of money or passage of time can fully heal the destruction this savage attack caused: permanent disfiguring injuries, loss of limb use and enduring emotional and physical pain.
Present day photo of Kylie Welch's left arm (left) and right arm injuries while hospitalized.
Kylie Welch photographed with her young daughter who was also injured in the dog attack.
Related articles:
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03/27/19: Justice for Boomer: Family Shares Story After Two Unleashed Dogs Viciously...
11/19/18: Mother Shares Story After Rescue 'Lab-Mix' Bites Son in the Face During Visitation...
03/18/16: Thank You Letter: Experienced Dog Trainer Shares Attack Story & Professional Opinion
You’re very brave. What happened to you was horrendous and must have felt like such a betrayal. The suffering lasts long after an attack. I wish more people realized it.
I am incredibly sorry to hear of the initial attack and the subsequent attacks from purported animal lovers. My heart goes out to you and your precious babies.
It sounds like she’s one of the rare ones who learned something from an unprovoked pit bull attack. I hope she contacts an attorney about suing the shelter.
I hope that lawyer wins. Bigtime. Because this lady deserves compensation.
I was attacked by my friends family female pit bull when I was 13 years old, We were fishing in their pond and their pitbull Stella with a pink outfit on was laying net to me then all of a sudden I felt a sharp pain on my shoulder than one second later I was being dragged on the ground with blood all over my face, My friend the pitbull owners son had to wedge a stick in its mouth to get it off me it went after me again but I was able to keep it away with my tackle box. finally, the owner comes grabs the dog puts it in his truck and told me to say it was a coyote so that their dog won’t be put down. He even threatened to light my parents house on fire if I mentioned what really happened and I never said a word do to fear for my families life. after the incident, the dog was left at his parent’s house out of state and 3 months later mauled his mother almost killed her. It was then euthanized and my story was still unheard as I still feared he would catch my parent’s house on fire in their sleep. I still have a nightmare about the whole incident 15 years later. just found this website feel like its the right time to say something now that those evil people have passed away. I’m not afraid of dogs I’m afraid of Pitbulls. I have 2 yellow labs that are amazing. IMO Pitbulls are not dogs they are evil killing machines no matter how trained you have them how loving you care for them they will one day show there evil side and you better hope you’re ready to die because they don’t stop attacking until you are lifeless.
I feel better getting that off my chest sorry for all the miss spells or sounding like an idiot I was shaking really bad while trying to type this, just the name pitbull sends shivers down my spine 🙁
I get ridiculed by my neighbor with a pit bull because I refused to go near it. she’s and adult woman and she acts seven years old.
Your neighbor needs to grow the [blankety-blank] up.
I remember this attack. I’m so sorry this happened.
I remember this attack, too. I didn’t know the part about the dog being labeled friendly and playful or that the rescue encouraged young children to be with these dogs for promotional and essentially propaganda purposes. This is outrageous.
Kylie, you are so brave. Thank you so much for telling your story. I hope it helps you and helps others who are in your same position. There are far too many and they have all been the victim of the pit bull advocates’ attacks after their pit bull attack. It is disgusting how these people behave when you so obviously know much better than they just how dangerous these “friendly and playful” pit bulls are.
I hope you can go ahead with your lawsuit. It is important for you, but also an extremely important message to rescues that they better act ethically and responsibly or they will lose assets, their rescue, and their reputation.
I hope you can find some survivor support groups to help you.
You are one fierce mama!
I am sure Kylie runs into people who doubt she has chronic, constant, unrelenting pain. It’s called reflex sympathetic dystrophy or RSD and it is awe full for anyone who has it. Years ago I met a young lady who got RSD after one pit bull bite to the forearm that left teethmark scars the whole way around. Everything barometer the bite to the fingertips was cool to the touch, had a different texture to the skin, would sometimes change color, and had a significant loss a muscle mass. That was one bite.
Kylie, you are brave. I see the tide slowly turning against these earful dogs.
Just a head’s up to make this post more searchable, Pittsburgh ends in “h”.
That should say “everything below the bite”
What a horrific experience for this woman and her children. Unfortunately, many times dogs end up in shelters because they are anything but “friendly and playful” or good family pets. Many times they end up there because they have a serious behavioral or aggression problem. Unfortunately this puts unsuspecting people at risk when they adopt or interact with the dog. How could a shelter possibly label a dog as friendly within 2 days, and without enough time for vigorous testing? This exemplifies the gross negligence and delusions of grandeur of these rescue groups, with their “save them all” mentality, even if it costs someone their life.
Kylie, you are a beautiful, brave mother with battle scars to prove the love you have for your precious children. You are absolutely correct in using caution around dogs. Please do not listen to what these ignorant, hateful people have to say about you. The only thing worse than a pitbull is a pitbull owner/advocate. I’ve come to find that they can be as aggressive and violent as the vile beasts they harbor. Keep your chin up. I’ll be praying for you.
Thank you for being so honest about the attack and the repurcussions afterward. People need to remember that an attack doesn’t end when the dog is stopped, or even when the wounds have scarred over. Your story is vastly important for people to hear. That’s why you are being attacked so brutally by pit bull apologists… they don’t want others to hear the truth! I am so glad that you are here to recount your story and that you and your daughters are not listed here among the dead.
Keep sharing as you can. There are people listening, there are hearts changing!
I’m so sorry this happened to Kylie, people are so rude, cruel and not very compassionate.
I was attacked 2 1/2 years ago by a neighbor’s pit that would frequently jump my fence…I’ve had the same experiences with people that Kylie and ALL the other survivors I know have had…along with death threats to me and my family….so yeah, if we don’t improve mentally and emotionally, a lot of time the people around us have some to do with it.
Miss Kylie you are with friends here. We know the abuse that you suffer because of these pit “advocates” who seem to have no empathy for anyone or anything but a vicious dog. I wish I could offer you more than my sincere support – you and your children deserve the world <3
I remember years ago when I worked in a Wal-Mart, they had a small pet department. This was maybe 35 years ago, when the stores were still small and not open 24 hours. There were snakes for sale. One day, one of the snakes got out, just a small rat snake of some kind. A woman saw it and freaked the heck out because she was terrified of snakes. I don’t know why. It didn’t matter why. She was treated like a queen and the snakes were gone from the store the. next. day. We were respectful of her fear and even the corporation was like, “We can’t have customers being afraid to come in our stores.” And, yes, they didn’t want to be sued. But they reacted to her fear and trauma in a respectful way, and realized that others may also be fearful.
In comparison, the total disrespect given to survivors of pit attacks, who are visibly scarred and suffering from the trauma, is tragic. Disheartening. Unbelievable. Sad. Maddening. None of these words are strong enough.
Kylie, there are people who care about what happened to you, and understand some of the pain and fear you live with every day.
That’s just gets to show you that these SHITBULL owners are as DANGEROUS as their breed of choice.
What type of mindset do you have to have to call a mauling victim names like that and verbally assault the daughter !?
It’s unreal
Kyle, I too am sorry that you were attacked by not only that horrible animal but also the small minded creatures( I cant call them humans due to their lack of empathy for the sitution). You are a brave woman to come out with your story. May you find healing and the support that you and your family need.
Kylie, you have my deepest sympathies. You have every right to safety from other dog owners. Even chihuahuas. No dog owner should let their dog near someone who has explained that they’re afraid of dogs (or reacted as if they are) no matter how great their dog might be. I have an awesome dog but I assume a person may be allergic, or afraid. The onus is on the dog owner. *Every Time*. An offleash dog needs to be trained to return to the owner*every time* there’s someone in sight–rather than be allowed to run up to people.
Pitbull Lovers pizz me off.
Most have never seen a real dog fight, have zero idea how to break one up–never mind what happens when a pitbull is involved. Yet they insist on buying/rescuing these dogs. Dogs, that for all intents and purposes have an absolutely crap record of mauling other dogs and people. Most aren’t fit to raise a poodle, never mind a pitbull. I will fight to keep the BSL here.
When I worked security we had to put anti-pitbull collars on our working dogs and carry mace because these dimwits thought it was a great joke to threaten to sic their dogs on ours. Then they stood there gobsmacked when we’d say we wanted BSL.
We now have BSL up here and these so-claimed “dog lovers” can’t even muzzle the dogs they claim to love, that can be taken away if the dog is found unmuzzled. More and more of them are walking around residential neighbourhoods full of kids…as if they’re Labradors.
When I trained dogs, I loathed pitbull owners. Never listened to a word we said, couldn’t follow a behaviour management plan, etc. etc, even when they knew the dog was out of control.
You and your children have every right to safety. Nobody has the right to own a dangerous dog.
Absolutely agree. My dog gets to go off-leash pretty much every walk–there are a lot of open empty fields and such around here. When he is off-leash, I am constantly scanning the horizon, the entrances to the park, whatever. The *second* I see another person (which is fairly rare, actually), I call him to me and put him back on his leash–and then when/if the other person notices us, I hold the leash end up so they can see that he is safely contained. The last thing I ever want is for anyone to be afraid that they might have to interact with or get close to my dog if they don’t want to.
The way I see it, if they have to pause for more than a second or two in their walk (that they might pause normally just on seeing a dog), I have failed.
Which makes it even more infuriating that I have to deal with people who don’t leash their shit bulls, or even their other dogs–aside from the “American Bully” who followed us to the park, he’s been jumped by two other off-leash dogs. It’s basically no effort at all for me to pay attention when my baby is off-leash, so I don’t think it’s too much to ask them to do the same.
What is an anti-pit-bull collar, btw? (And where can I get one? 🙂
Two things you may want to purchase. One is bear spray (caution tho, your own dog may get hit as well and it won’t always work–however, a blinded dog is at serious disadvantage).
Anti-grab/pitbull collars are those leather collars with large studs/spikes. When you see them on pitbulls the idea isn’t just to look tough–it is to stop another dog from getting the first grasp on the throat of a dog. Since pitbulls tend to go for the throat right away, this can be enough for a trained guard dog to gain the upper paw, so-to-speak. Or for an owner to do something drastic to save his dog.
If the pitbull isn’t “game enough” or it’s bad handling instead of trained, as is often the case with city dogs–it can be an advantage.
One of my trained Bouviers wrecked an off-lead pitbull from that advantage when it attacked.
Mind you, the neighbours might start eyeing YOUR dog, suspiciously 😉
I agree Boni. I work in the veterinary field and I have seen firsthand the extreme obsession to prove that these are such “sweet, beautiful ” dogs. One pit owner stood there gushing ” isn’t she beautiful, isn’t she ” as he was checking her in for her appointment. I’ve never seen a golden retriever, pomeranian, shihtzu or chihuahua owner or any other dog owner gush about how beautiful their dog is (even when other dogs are straight up more gorgeous than the shitbull in my opinion).One client called and was asking what we could do for stress management for his dog during his appointment beacuse he does not like other dogs and his previous vet insisted that the dog be muzzled. The staff asked what kind of dog he is( just to get a history) and the guy said a pit and we said that more than likely we would need to muzzle pet also for our protection (as we would with any dog that we are going to have to handle that is showing signs the NSA of aggtession) and he said” oh, so y’all are already afraid of him and y’all haven’t even met him”. Yea, like we are even going to give his monster a chance to bite our face. What an idiot. Another owner had a pit that gornlt out of his grasp and tried to attack our clinic cat. He was almost on top of the cat and we saw it and yelled for him to get his dog and he caught himself in midsentance and said “that f####king ca….(he was going to say that “f’ing cat “he didn’t finish saying it becuae we were just looking at him as he yanked his dog back.)He left quickly after that. No other owners act like that with their dogs. So yea, it is true about the type.of people that own pitbulls. They have a mental deficiency and in think they are dengerous.
Funny how that is, eh?
Nowadays I’m a whole lot snarkier than when I made my living with dogs.
Soon as someone says, “These dogs or My Dog is so great” I ask, “What’s so great about them?”. Or “Tell me what your dog can do that another dog, cannot?”
The worst is YouTube videos. Jumping up, face slurping, landing in people’s laps, babies crawling all over sleeping dogs. This normalizes not just crappy Pitbull behaviour, but crappy dog behaviour, period. That’s not dog love–it’s idiocy. Dog love is if you accidentally drop your leash in the middle of an intersection crowded with dogs, cars, people and noise…and the dog does exactly as its bid, calmly. My fav Barbra Woodhouse used to say, “You want to know if your dog loves you? Open your front door, let him loose, and if he stays within calling distance and returns when called? THAT dog loves you.”
They stand there like I punched their granny when I say, “Keep that dog away from my trained dog.” “But he’s friendly”. Then they assume there is something wrong with MY dog. These people are nuts.
Pitbull lovers are the extreme end of the spectrum of all this oogie woogie doggy woggy nonsense.
People don’t run the other way when they see my Alaskan Husky (some even say “Oh wow, The Littlest Hobo!”) unless they really are afraid of large dogs.
It never occurs to these pitbull nutters that it’s not the other people that don’t have a point about molasser breeds and particularly pitbulls that are intimidating–it’s like watching a biker in full colours clear a room then having him wonder why anybody would be intimidated by the guy who’s just a cuddly teddybear. The whole point of “the look” is to BE intimidating and to stand on the reputation of intimidation.
Pitbull owners don’t even have the guts to own that choice.
And never once have I seen one with a break stick, or when asked…have the foggiest clue how to break up a dog fight. They all assure me that “my dog is great” even when it’s clearly jumping around like a crazed lunatic and dragging them down the street.
All dogs can bite. That’s the reality. The truth of it is that responsible owners do the best they can to make that the last option the dog will choose so that it never has to come to that. They don’t blame everyone else when their dog acts like an idiot and if the dog is ill-behaved–they fix it.
Responsible dog owners don’t blame some poor woman and her child who had the misfortune to be attacked by a pitbull that went berserk.
I wouldn’t blame vets and other dog establishments if they just said, “We don’t take pitbulls.” Nobody gets paid to be maimed or killed at their job.
All dangerous dogs are officially labeled as “Friendly and Playful” by local law, and also by dog owners, until they attack, and then the law agencies/personnel and owners lie and continue to insist that the dog is/was friendly and playful. This, to blame the victim, of course, which is the ultimate, forced goal of the Dangerous Animal Social/Legal Complex.
I’m certainly not a pitbull lover, and I do not know how to predict which pitbulls will attack people as occurred here. How can anyone know?
I seriously doubt that the Florida volunteer at a shelter who took a pitbull out had any idea whatsoever that the dog was going to kill her.
This unpredictability is what makes these dogs dangerous. I see absolutely no way to accurately predict which pitbulls will attack. Nor is the public going to accept routine euthanasia of pitbulls in shelters. So the danger will persist. The only way to reduce the risk is to reduce the number of them.
I’m going to dispute your premise a bit here, Rachel 😉
If a husky doesn’t have an instinct to run and pull (even if trained not to do it in the majority of circumstances) for all intents and purposes, it’s a failed husky.
If a beagle won’t sniff or hunt, it might look like a beagle, but it’s a crap specimen of one and is unsuited to purpose.
A Labrador that won’t swim is useless for retrieving game. Thus, nobody is breeding them.
Predictably, these animals have been bred by humans, to have strong instinctual drives to do a particular job.
Pitbulls are bred to fight other animals. People are just big animals. Drive is drive, instinct is instinct.
I assume your husky will run because the majority, do–even if you never hook it up to a sled. I assume your beagle will sniff, bark and chase prey even if you teach it to heel.
Because all training fails occasionally, even to the best. Thus, hilarious YouTube Dog Fail, obedience/agility/sports trial videos.
Thus, pitbulls *are* predictable. They fight. That’s what they are bred to do. Every fibre of their being is infused with it. When they don’t–that’s just good training and luck.
You can train them not to engage, but nobody can guarantee that some day–the instincts of the best-trained dog, won’t get the better of them.
So why are humans still breeding them?
Kylie,
You have my sympathy. The same exact thing just happened to me recently to a lesser extent. I am an animal lover and volunteer at a pet shelter. I was walking a pit bull he was friendly and playful at first. Suddenly he started coming at me and began biting my arms legs and torso. I tried to protect my face from him and was trying to climb over the fence to get away from him. He did not let up. I was screaming and lucky there were people around that ran over and were ale to distract him while I climbed over the fence. My attacked lasted several minutes. I was so traumatized afterwards that words cannot describe how I feel. I thank God every day that this dig did not get to my eyes, head or neck but I suffered severe bites to my arms, torso and legs. The shelter still has him up for adoption, and he has been labeled as slightly aggressive. This breed of dog is unpredictable and dangerous. I love animals but this dig is completely capable of killing someone. I did tell the shelter that I dear for anyone adopting this dog. I wish only the best for you. The trauma of coping with this incident is also very difficult. Bless you and your family and shame on people who do not take this seriously.
To all of you who have been attacked by a pit bull, I am so sorry for your pain both from the attack by the dogs and the attacks against you by the horrible people who are obviously wose than the dogs in some ways because they should know better. Unfortunately the people who own pit bulls are trash and there’s always been trashy stupid people in the world. Just know that you are not alone and many people are empathetic and concerned about what you have endured from the dogs and humans! I simply witnessed an attack on the neighbors little border collie by a pit bull that was allowed to roam the neighborhood and by the time he was done killing that dog with 2 men unable to save it’s life and get him off, left me terrified of pit bulls. The next time I was confronted with a lose pit bull while out walking my little cocker spaniel puppy and my children I had a full fledged panic attack and then I realized how traumatizing that was. So I can only imagine how much trauma you must have had being attacked by one of them! I can honestly tell you that I have had to use bear spray while hiking and came upon a neighbor who startled a bear while out horse riding as a child and was left with her bleeding and terrified to try to figure out how to scare the bear away from the both of us and get her help and I had one come into the kitchen one night when my kids were little and I was tired and didn’t wash my dishes before going to bed and woke up to the bear banging around in the kitchen and my little son standing over me telling me that a big black dog was in the house! I’m still not afraid of bears, mountain lions, or Canadian Lynx despite having run ins with all of these wild animals on more than a few occasions being raised in Montana and Alaska than I am of pit bulls. Wild animals behavior is just far more predictable than a pit bull plus no one in their right minds comes upon a dam mountain lion and thinks I’m going to go pet him! No one would ever question having PTSD from a bear or mountain lion or shark attack but the pit bulls who kill and maul far more people are looked on as safe! So if you’ve been attacked by a pit bull, a rottweiler or even a nice little cocker spaniel and were left with PTSD because of it and the ignorant people around you don’t have the empathy to put themselves in your position then don’t let it bother you that they’re sociopaths because a lot of people are! Just know that there’s a whole lot more people like me in this world who have deep sympathy for what you’ve been through and wish that there was more common sense laws preventing them from being “protected” by such trashy people who have done nothing but harm!