Ty taken right from under me : (

by Nastasha
(Orlando, FL)

Click on each photo to enlarge

My day had started off ok.. went to college, came home, relaxed with my boyfriend until he had to go off to work. After watching t.v. with my two dogs Cassius (English Bulldog) and Tyson (Papillon) I decided it was time to stretch my legs and take the dogs out for a walk.

After the doggies finished their business I was heading back to my apartment. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a young man (about my age, 23) approaching us with two dogs (a beagle mix and pit bull). They were approximately 100 ft. away so I just continued walking away from them and towards my apartment with my two doggies.

All of a sudden chaos erupted. The 40 lb pit bull got loose and started wrestling with 10 lb papillon. The other dog owner came running after his pit bull "Boo" and tackled him. I remove Tyson from the wrestling, fall to the ground .. my shoes are no where to be found... and i'm being pulled by my 9 month old english bulldog cassius because he was trying to play with the other dog.

The other dog owner says "oh i'm sorry.... i'm actually surprised that he let go of your dog though" ... I ignored that comment and then went to ask him "would u like me to throw you your dog leash ??" and he said yes. So I threw the dog leash, left my shoes behind and just continued to walk towards my apartment to quickly get away from what happened.

Approximately 30 seconds later, I reach the sidewalk and "Boo" charges at Ty, my papillon. Boo tried to bit his neck, however at the time he was wearing a cone to prevent flea biting so the dog bit up the cone, and went on to bite Ty on the back hind leg. At this point Ty did not bark he just sat in pain while Boo's owner tackled Boo and began punching him in the throat saying "Get OFF BOO!!"... I stood in shock and once I realized that Boo was not letting go, I began to try and pry the pit bulls mouth open.... it did not work..

after approximately a minute of this going on my baby Tyson went limp and just laid on the ground. Boo let go of his grip and I scooped Ty up as quickly as I could. I caught a glimpse of the damage and went into my house hysterically crying to get a towel to wrap him in. At the same time I called the police since my boyfriend took my car to work and I had no clue what else to do. In the mean time I let the leash to my english bulldog go and he continued to try and play with the other beagle mix.

I got ahold of my boyfriend and hysterically told him "Ty got bit by a dog and we need you!" He then told me he was on his way (which was about 3 min. away luckily).

I came outside and a neighbor approached me and said " I'm sorry I didnt come ealier, but I dont have insurance and I couldnt afford to get bit... but I worked for a Vet and I can try and help" so she asked me to put Ty down so she could check his pulse ....

She lifted his gums and then turned to me and said "i'm so sorry but he is gone... he is only warm becuase you are holding him tight... look his gums are all white, there is no blood going through him and he has no pulse" ....

At that point my heart got ripped out of my chest and all I could do was hysterically cry and hold my poor baby tightly against my chest. A couple minutes later my boyfriend arrives and he notices that I am drenched in Ty's blood and I tell him Ty is gone......

Animal control came and told me I have the option of giving my neighbor a fine because of the damage done by the dog but I could not do it.... The animal control already told me that they will be losing their pit bull and it will be put to sleep because of the incident....

Ten minutes later I had to decide what I wanted to do with Ty now... So my boyfriend and I decided to give him a proper burial at my moms house (which is an hour away).....I held him the entire time....

I don't know how to stop feeling so guilty.. was there more I could have done to get the pit off of him.... should I have picked Ty up after the first incident... what if....

Now my boyfriend and I are left to pick up the pieces.... it's not easy and it's tearing me apart