TAUNTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A Taunton woman is recovering in the hospital after getting attacked by six pit bulls that chased her down the street and killed her daughter’s puppy.
An officer patrolling the area of 187 Broadway about 8:45 p.m. spotted 51-year-old Rochelle Silva being chased down the middle of the road by six pit bulls that were attacking her, according to Taunton Police Chief Edward Walsh.
Silva said as three of the dogs were chasing after her, she can across the street toward a hole in a fence but had nowhere to go.
“I get into like a fetal position so I can keep my knees in my chest,” she said. “And the dogs keep attacking me.”
After jumping out of his cruiser to assist the woman, the officer said some of the dogs turned toward his direction as if they were going to attack him.
When the officer realized he was unable to safely discharge his firearm at any of the dogs because they were next to and on top of the woman, he ran back to his cruiser and activated the sirens and air horn in an attempt to get their attention.
The sirens distracted the dogs for enough time for the woman to get to her feet, allowing the officer and a good Samaritan to escort her into the officer’s cruiser.
“I thought I was going to die,” Silva said. “There were chunks coming out of my body. I could feel them. I could feel the chunks coming out of my body. I thought I was going to die.”
Police say the 36-year-old Taunton man who owns the dogs came out of his house to try to get them under control.
He even laid on top of Silva in an attempt to get the dogs to stop.
After the owner got his dogs back into his house, a Taunton Fire Department ambulance arrived on scene and rendered medical aid to Silva before she was taken to Rhode Island Hospital with what were considered non-life-threatening injuries.
All six dogs were seized by Taunton Animal Control and will be quarantined prior to a hearing with the owner.
A preliminary investigation suggests the pit bulls’ owner opened his door, allowing one of the dogs to escape. When he tried to retrieve the dog, the other five pushed through the door and immediately began attacking the woman.
Silva says she doesn’t blame the dogs but feels the owner is responsible for their actions.
“Very careless,” she said. “He should go to jail. I feel like I’m on the fence because he saved me. He saved me.”
The incident remains under investigation.
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