PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office says a Palatka woman is recovering from severe damage to one of her arms and her right leg after what they describe as a “vicious” dog attack on Wednesday night.
The sheriff’s office told Action News Jax a pitbull mix came out of the bushes by a home on Beech Street and attacked the woman before a nearby man hit the dog with a sledgehammer.
The man didn’t want to interview with Action News Jax, but the sheriff’s office said he may have saved the woman’s life.
“His account of things was that everything happened real fast,” said Sgt. Nick Vieira with the Criminal Investigations Unit, “his eyesight isn’t that great and there are no street lights out here, he said it happened all at once.”
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We’re still working to learn the name of the woman who was attacked, but the sheriff’s office believes Putnam County Animal Control has found and contained the dog who bit her. Deputies said they’re still working to confirm the dog collected by animal control is the dog responsible.
“Between this evening and tomorrow morning, we would hope to have this dog in custody and identified for sure,” Sgt. Vieira said.
A new Florida law went into effect earlier this year titled the “Pam Rock Act,” named after the Putnam County postal worker killed by a pack of dogs in 2022. Based on the new law, the owner of the dog in this case could face a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail.
The law says those are the penalties owners can face if their dog has not previously been classified as dangerous but has attacked someone. We’re working to learn if the dog in this case has been deemed dangerous, but the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said the dog may need to be put down.
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Sheila Mohr’s father lives a few houses down from where deputies said the attack happened. She said she lives in Germany and visits Palatka about three times a year, but still notices issues with dogs in the neighborhood when she is staying there.
“We’ve seen several people on the bicycles that will get chased by dogs when they’re just riding their bikes down the road,” Mohr said, “there are a whole bunch of puppies running around. No one’s taking care of them, they’re digging through trash cans, trying to find food.”
Mohr hopes dog owners living nearby do their part to keep the neighborhood safe.
“Make sure that your dog doesn’t go out wandering in the street. That to me is very, very important,” said Mohr.
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said it’s still working to find the owner of the dog responsible for the attack. We’ll bring updates to this story as they are made available.
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