A New York teenager almost lost her leg after her 18-month-old American pitbull terrier Southy attacked her, The Daily Mail reported.
“I never thought he’d do this,” Lexie Beebe, 16, told The Daily Mail. “He never growled. He slept with my baby brother, that was his favorite person. I was so surprised, the day he attacked me he was playing with my baby brother with before it happened.” (RELATED: REPORT: Mother Stabs Family Dogs To Stop Them From Mauling 1-Year-Old Daughter)
New York girl, 16, almost loses her leg when ‘family protector’ pitbull who slept in her bed turned on her and started ‘ripping her apart’ https://t.co/eEp1XWseBy
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) November 26, 2022
Beebe had gone downstairs when Southy who lunged at her throat. Beebe protected her neck, but Southy tore apart her flesh and muscle.
Her mother, Ryan Beebe, 43, and stepdad Zachary Wagner, 30, found blood on the floor and ceiling and flesh on the carpet. The dog’s jaws were still locked on Lexie’s leg. She heard his teeth grazing on her bone.
Zachary could not open the dog’s jaws, so he choked him until he let go of Lexie’s leg. He wrapped a belt around Lexie’s leg so she would stop losing blood, which likely saved her life.
Beebe then endured a six-hour operation where doctors tried reattaching muscle and ligaments.
“It was a normal Sunday morning,” Lexie Beebe told The Daily Mail. “I was hanging out with friends. I went downstairs pretty quickly, opened the baby gate and as soon as I opened it there the dog was, there was a small growl and he jumped at my throat first but I turned away quick enough so he grabbed onto my leg.”
“He was on my leg for around 30 seconds but he did so much damage it was crazy,” she added.
At the time of the attack, the Beebes owned eight pitbulls, including Southy. They put Southy down and Ryan has insisted on rehoming the other dogs to keep their three children safe.
“Before the attack we thought the dogs were our protectors and we never thought they’d ever do anything like that,” Lexie Beebe said.