[D Winkler]

April 03, 2008
Woman Uses Animal Instincts to Save Lab

It’s been awhile since the Newshound has found a dog story to share with our legion of canine-loving readers. Here’s one that won’t disappoint.

Minneapolis, Minn. resident Amy Rice loves her 12-year-old Labrador retriever named Ella. And, like many Lab aficionados, there’s not much Rice wouldn’t do for her dog.

She proved her devotion to Ella this past weekend, when a pit bull leapt over a neighbor’s fence and began to relentlessly attack her non-aggressive Lab.

Feeling helpless and afraid the pit bull was going to kill her dog as she stood watching, Rice told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that she was driven by her basic animal instincts to protect her pooch.

“I ended up biting the pit bull on the nose. I didn’t plan it, that’s what happened,” the 38-year-old woman said.

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And, she didn’t just nip at the attacking dog’s honker, either.

“I broke the skin and had pit bull blood in my mouth. I knew what happened, and I knew that it wasn’t good,” she said.

Lesson learned: Don’t mess with Amy—or Ella.

The good news is that Ella is recovering from the wounds inflicted by her attacker. Animal control authorities tracked down and quarantined the pit pull. Rice is waiting to hear if she and her dog will need to undergo rabies treatment.

In the meantime, Minneapolis Animal Care and Control Manager Dan Niziolek admits it was his first “man bites dog” case.

“We see people who will do anything to protect their animal,” he said.


Newshound

[birdman]

Pretty brave sole to come face to face with an attacking pit bull. I'd probably soccer styled that dog in the teeth..

[D Winkler]

yeah, or just shoot it. I can't imagine the idea to bite it on the nose popping into my head.