A South Carolina woman died on Feb. 21, after being mauled by two of her own dogs despite the best efforts of her neighbors to fend off the attack.
WARNING: The following content contains graphic descriptions.
Nancy Cherryl Burgess-Dismuke, 52, of Greenville, South Carolina, was playing around with her two dogs in her front yard when they suddenly turned on her, neighbors said, according to Greenville News.
Senior Deputy Coroner Kent Dill said she “suffered multiple, extremely severe, dog bites to her upper arms resulting in a large volume of blood loss,” reported Fox News.
Neighbors said they heard the attack and came running to her mobile home to see what was happening. They found her two boxer mixes biting on both of her arms and dragging her back into her home.
South Carolina woman, 52, dies after being mauled by her own dogs https://t.co/HfdA1indfE pic.twitter.com/rK3vOSpPTZ
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One neighbor, Amber Greer, said she heard the screams as the dogs tore into their owner, reported WYFF.
“They were trying to kill Miss Nancy,” Greer, a witness who called 911, said. “They wanted Miss Nancy to die. I don’t know what their beef was with that lady, but they were trying to kill Miss Nancy.”
“One on one arm, one on the other arm,” she added.
“It went from looking like they were really playing to them really eating her alive,” Greer told Greenville News.
Neighbors told local media they tried to beat the dogs off in order for them to free the victim.
Denzel Whiteside picked up an ax and started whacking at the dogs in an effort to get them to stop.
“Grabbed the ax, is the only thing I could find and then I went in,” Whiteside told WYFF. “It was almost like the dogs didn’t feel it at all.”
Another neighbor, Whiteside’s roommate, William Long, also tried to help.
“He grabbed the ax, I grabbed the drive-shaft and we just beat the dog off of her,” Long said.
The woman was wrestling with her dogs when they became aggressive, a preliminary investigation found https://t.co/DejOoXghRg
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Long said the dogs appeared to be possessed and continued to lunge at their owner, who’s described as a very small woman.
“Remind me, Nancy is maybe what, 80 pounds. Maybe,” Greer said. “She’s tiny.”
Preliminary investigation by the Sheriff’s Office showed Burgess-Dismuke was wrestling with her dogs in the front yard when they turned on her and became aggressive, Lt. Ryan Floor said, according to Greenville News.
“When they finally got the dogs off of her, and finally got them to go, she threw her body over the fence,” Greer said. “She didn’t jump; she threw her body like you never seen before. They were eating her.”
GRAPHIC: Woman, 52, dies after being mauled by her own dogs >>> https://t.co/LceTRcVApr pic.twitter.com/JfwqspDH72
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Once police arrived on the scene, deputies applied tourniquets to Burgess-Dismuke’s arm in an attempt to stop the bleeding, Flood said.
“She was already so far gone. One arm was already bit completely off, the other arm was barely hanging on by a piece of meat,” Whiteside said. “It was the longest 10 minutes of my life.”
Burgess-Dismuke was taken to the local hospital, where she died at about 10 p.m. on Thursday.
Whiteside said he expected Burgess-Dismuke to survive and was shocked when he heard she had died. He said he wished he could have done more.
“To see a person’s bones as the dogs attack, it really gets in your head,” Long said. “All I could do was try my best to save her.”
The local Animal Control took the two dogs, which are scheduled to be euthanized.
Long told Fox News that Burgess-Dismuke was “a real nice lady.”
“Anytime you asked her for anything any kind of help she gave it to you,” he said. “She didn’t question it. She didn’t come out and raise a bunch of Cain about it. If she can give you some help she will.”
