Pit Bull Attack Victim, Tanya Barnes, Recounts Life Threatening Attack in Columbia, Mississippi

Tanya Barnes recounts the violent pit bull attack from her hospital bed in Columbia, Mississippi.

04/16/10: Permanent Disfiguring Injury
Columbia, MS - In a stunningly candid account, Tanya Barnes, 47, describes how a friend's pit bull tore off part of her face on April 12, 2010. The powerful interview is about 10 minutes long. Phrases you will not forget include: rip the flesh, soak a pork chop, my eyeballs, my jugular, jaws, like a rattlesnake, 30-seconds, hundreds of stitches, extreme amount of blood, and clothes "cut off." Barnes adds: "[Pit bulls] are not cute fluffy little puppies forever. They grow up and their natural instincts kick in."

"This is not okay. Somebody needs to be responsible for this."

Barnes has had two surgery procedures so far and will need more. Barnes could not afford the COBRA insurance co-payments after the death of her husband. She currently has no insurance. She does not know how she and her children will get through this. She also wondered why there is no taskforce for dog attack victims. "It seems like that when somebody comes in gushing blood and having to have their clothes cut off of them in front of people," there would be resources available to help them.

Tanya Barnes Interview Transcript

... wrong with these dogs. They're just, they were bred to be killers. Their jaws are so massive so they could rip the flesh off your bones.

This dog had her lower jaw in my mouth, and it looks like, you know, when you soak a pork chop overnight so you can get it thawed out fast?

I don't know she what did, but it just...like up in my mouth and you know it just ripped it to shreds. One of the teeth was in the corner of my eyeball and if it had been a quarter of an inch up further, it would have ripped, busted both my eyeballs. If it had been down just a little bit more, it would have been my juggler.

Interviewer: Take me back take me back before the attack. What happened?
My 13 year old son and I had gone to a family friend. He had been family for several years and he had just suffered the loss of his girlfriend. We were there, just you know spending some time trying to remember happy times.

The owner got up and told me he would go to the restroom, and he got up and walked out of the room. Well, as he got up to walk out of the room, the one pit bull, the larger male, kind of followed him, but as the male pit bull got off the couch, he stepped on the back of the puppy. The puppy was laying there with his little legs out ... yells out, "Ouhhh!"

And like a rattlesnake, I didn't even see the dog move. I felt the power and it just took my head, and it had its lower jaw in my mouth and upper jaw with her teeth right here. You can see and hear yanking and just pulled, and as she pulled up, she shook my head like you're trying to mix up a chocolate shake or something you know.

It's slow motion and instantaneous all at the same time because my son had talked me into letting him go next door and play X box. I was like, “Thank god my baby's not here” because he would have never thought anything wrong about walking over and picking up a puppy. They had several puppies but all of them died of parvo except one or two. You know so my son is a really wonderful kid but he's small framed and this lasted about 25 to 30 seconds, and hundreds of stitches and blood ...

I grabbed a rag and, I put it on my face. It was laying on the arm of the couch and I screamed “Get in here! Call 9-1-1! I need help hurry!”

He managed to get in there and grab the dog, and the male dog got back on the couch, and the male dog saved my life. He yanked that dog, his front paw ... This is where he was pushing trying to pull the female dog off me. That's how much force was from his foot. He grabbed the female dog, and he pulled her off and the owner grabbed the back of the collar and just flung her over to the side and immediately the male dog went over and laid down, cowering by the door.

I mean they were raised as house puppies. They weren't raised and trained, they weren't fought, they weren't in a raised to be aggressive, but it's in their nature and they're so massive.

A lot of places require that you have at least a $500,000 rider on your homeowners insurance to cover something like this if it happened.

I did have insurance, but when my husband died, the cobra copay, versus my widow's survival benefits was too much for me to handle and the insurance would drop. I don't have any insurance. I don't know how we're going to get through this. I know somehow some way it's going to work out, but you know I want my kids to go to school. I want them to have a future, and we don't have money socked back in an account somewhere. This is taking our light bill money to get prescriptions filled when we get out of here.

I just want people to know that these [dogs], they grow up. They're not the cute little fluffy little puppies forever and, they grow up and their natural instincts kick in. This mother was trying to be maternal but that doesn't make it okay.

This this is not okay.

Somebody needs to be responsible for this.

It's not my fault and I didn't do it. This animal is a dumb animal, and there has to be a human who is going to be able to stand up and say, “I'm going to help.”

I don't know if there's a task force anywhere for victims, but it seems like that when somebody comes in just gushing blood and having to have their clothes cut off of them in front of people. Then they should automatically notify somebody that's going to tell my mama that it's going to be okay, that there are resources available to help. But so far, I don't know what those resources are. Dr. Pecunia has assured me that he's not going to worry about my insurance exactly at this moment that he's going to make sure I'm okay.

He's been Godsend. I've heard his name several times before from other people who he's treated. Their scar lines were so minimal, and I pray that my body cooperates and that we can get through this as quickly and as easily as we can. But I don't think the word “easy” is in my vocabulary right now.

Interviewer: During that day or during the time that you were there, did you have any interaction with the mother dog?

The mother dog was laying on the floor. When I first came in, the owner picked up the puppy and the mother dog growled while looking at me. But [the owner] was like “Sassy!” and she put your head down. So, I reached out ... said this is mama.

Interviewer: Did you ever let the mother dog sniff you to get familiar with you?

I was sitting on the floor, less than the distance then from here to the end of the bed, and I didn't show fear. I was conscientious of the pit bulls because of their reputation, but I wasn't afraid because I didn't feel that I had a reason for fear. But she raised up and looked down at the puppy a couple of times you know, and the male dog got up on the couch showing, “this is my house.”

I have dogs. I respect that they are trying to show, “this is my house,” but not, “Your blood is for me to eat if I think you're going to do something.” Or, you know, “I can lunge at you anytime I want and just kill you.”

Interviewer: You grab the phone and you call 9-1-1?

After about three attempts, I got through.

Interviewer: What was your friend doing?

He was just in shock. He was just in shock. He was like, “let me see, let me see,” and I was like, “No, no, no!” Because it wasn't just bleeding, it was going up and coming down oh my arm ... it was just, a very extreme amount of blood.

Interviewer: You dialed 9-1-1?

I dial 9-1-1, and I’m screaming, “A pit bull attacked me! A pit bull attacked me! Get here hurry, help me!”

Everything went gray, and I lost consciousness in the ambulance after I yanked on the man's arm. He said, “I don't know her name. I don't know her history,” and I'm telling him, giving him a phone number to call. He finally figured it out that that's what I was doing. I mean, we play “what if” with my kids. What would you do if this happened? Always be prepared with a phone number and make sure your kids know how to get in touch with somebody.

They got through and by the time the ambulance got here, my family was already arriving. I remember somebody asking me if they could cut my clothes off. I said yes. I don't remember anything else until I woke up in this room and Dr. Pecunia was standing down at the end of the bed and telling me that everything went really well. I couldn't imagine when I started going unconscious -- I thought I died.

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06/26/10: 2010 Dog Bite Fatality: Terry Child, 5-years old, Killed by Neighbor's Pit Bull