A South Carolina mom-of-three had both arms amputated to the shoulder, lost part of her colon and is fighting for her life after she was attacked by three pit bulls on Monday.
Kyleen Waltman, 38, was mauled by the animals when she was walking home on Ball Road around 10:30 a.m. on Monday in Honea Path, about 80 miles northwest of Columbia.
‘She was walking home from her boyfriend’s house to her momma’s, and as far as I know, the dogs just jumped on her and you can actually see in the road if you go down there, where she fought the dog, trying to fight them off,’ Tanya Gilmer, Waltman’s best friend, told WGN Radio.
A witness saw Waltman under attack in a ditch and was able to scare the dogs away by firing his gun into the air, police said. Severely injured Waltman was then airlifted to Prisma Health Greenville Hospital, where she remains in critical condition.
She has undergone several surgeries and is scheduled for more, according to a GoFundMe set up for her medical care, which has raised more than $79,000 as of Saturday morning. She might also need her esophagus removed.
‘If it wasn’t for [the passerby], my sister wouldn’t be here,’ Waltman’s sister, Shenna Green, told news outlets. ‘By that time, they couldn’t even tell who she was.’
‘She didn’t deserve it. She was a good person. She helped everybody.’
Two days after the attack, dog owner Justin Minor was arrested and charged with three counts of owning a dangerous animal that attacked and injured a human, rabies control violation and dangerous animal not permitted beyond premises unless restrained, according to The State.
Kyleen Waltman, 38, was mauled by three pit bulls when she was walking home on Monday in Honea Path. She’s had both arms amputated and part of her colon remove, and faces more surgeries as she fights for her life in the hospital
Waltman, pictured before the attack, has undergone several surgeries and is scheduled for several more. She may need her esophagus removed and one of her legs amputated
Dog owner Justin Minor (pictured was arrested and charged with three counts of owning a dangerous animal that attacked and injured a human, rabies control violation and dangerous animal not permitted beyond premises unless restrained
Waltman’s sister said she has woken up after multiple surgeries – ‘but it’s not her’
The owning of a dangerous animal charge carries a penalty of $5,000 or a sentence of three years in prison.
He was released on a $15,000 bond on Thursday after appearing teary eyed in court before Magistrate Susan Gladden. He will reappear on May 6.
It wasn’t immediately clear why Minor’s dogs were on the street. It is unclear whether the animals will be put down.
Local news outlets have photographed ‘Beware of dog’ signs around Minor’s property.
The dogs were seized by Abbeville County Animal Control, and the Abbeville County Sheriff’s Office are conducting an investigation into the attack.
DailyMail.com could not reach either agency for comment.
Waltman’s sisters want Minor held accountable for the attack that changed the woman’s life forever.
‘It could’ve been prevented,’ Waltman’s other sister, Amy Wynne, said.
‘If the dogs were locked up or if the dogs were chained up, or if they were never there to begin with, this would’ve never happened.’
Local news outlets have photographed ‘Beware of dog’ signs around Minor’s property. It is not clear why the dogs were roaming the street
The dogs were seized by Abbeville County Animal Control, and the Abbeville County Sheriff’s Office are conducting an investigation into the attack
Wynne said Waltman has woken up after multiple surgeries – ‘but it’s not her.’
‘Her whole demeanor, everything about her has changed,’ Wynne told WYFF 4.
‘Knowing Kyleen, she’s not going to want to live. She’s not going to want to live like this. She’s got too much pride to rely on someone else.’
‘This is the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen.’
Wynn posted an update to her sister’s GoFundMe on Wednesday.
‘Kyleen is still in critical condition but is stable. She still isn’t out of the woods just yet, she will need more surgeries on her body, the dogs attacked her whole being,’ she wrote.
‘Initially we thought just arms but as time goes on, the bites are everywhere. Please continue to pray and I will give more updates as we are updated on her condition.’
More than 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year in the United States, with 800,000 of the victims requiring medical attention according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Jacqueline Durand, 22, is pictured speaking during an Instagram livestream earlier this month after she was disfigured by a dog attack
Durand, 22, (pictured before the attack) was violently mauled by a German Shephard mix named Lucy and a pit bull mix named Bender, a day before her 22nd birthday, and only a few days before Christmas
Across studies, 22.5 percent of reported dog bites – the highest percentage among breeds – were attributed to pit bulls, according to the American Animal Hospital Association.
Earlier this month, 22-year-old Texas student Jacqueline Durand was horrifically disfigured after two dogs she was hired to care for bit her 800 times.
Days before Christmas, Durand had been hired to dog sit for Dr Justin Bishop and his wife Ashley, and went to see the pets for a meet-and-greet before agreeing to do so, during which time the German Shepard mix and pit bull mix appeared well-behaved.
She says the Bishops promised her the animals would be in their crates when she came over – but that they’d texted her on the day of the booking to say the pets were actually loose in the house. Durand was mauled the moment she let herself in, and is now suing the Bishops, who have not been hit with criminal charges, for $1 million.
On Wednesday, two Philadelphia dog owners stood on and laughed as they dropped their pit bulls’ leashes and let them maul a family’s cornered cat, jeering and cheering the animals on until the cat’s owner came outside to stop the attack.
The Pennsylvania SPCA has distributed security camera footage that captured the attack in the city’s Frankford neighborhood on Tuesday, and is urging anyone who recognizes the dogs or their owners to come forward.
The cat, named Buddy, suffered significant lacerations to his abdominal region and internal damage and is currently in critical condition, PSPCA’s director of Human Law Enforcement Nicole Wilson told NBC10.
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