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They were "doing their job" | Owner defends dogs who attacked woman, says they've been euthanized

The woman was seriously injured in the attack last week by at least four dogs.

KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — The owner of several dogs that reportedly attacked, dragged, and tossed a 19-year-old woman in the air on Crescent Drive last week said the dogs have been euthanized.

Deputies responded to the south Knox County, Tennessee, home on Friday around 2 p.m. and immediately saw emergency personnel bringing a female, later identified as Adrienna O'Shea, covered in mud and blood in a gurney down the driveway to an ambulance, the report said. 

The woman's clothes were ripped off and her hair was bloody and matted all over the top of her head. The report said she wasn't alert and wasn't responding to deputies. She was transported to UT Medical Center for treatment. We do not know her current condition.

The neighbor, who called 911, told investigators that O'Shea had visited the night before and forgot her purse so she came back to get it.

The witness told deputies she was inside her home when she heard the victim say "No Boscoe!" and then begin screaming "Help Me!"

The witness told investigators she ran to the door, opened it, and found "all five dogs attacking" her, the report said.

She said the woman "continued to scream and cry for help as the dogs were mauling her and dragging her towards the wooded area."

She said the dogs were dragging her and tossing her in the air and the woman eventually jumped a small fence to try to get away from the dogs, according to the report. She had multiple bite wounds to both her arms and all over her body. Her left arm was badly bitten and she had lost a lot of blood.

According to the report, deputies said they shot one of the dogs, a black lab/mastiff mix, because it was charging them and trying to attack them as well and the other dogs were hiding at the side of the home and in the garage area.

Four other dogs were caught and transported to Young-Williams Animal Center to be held.

The dogs' owner, who lived next door and had arrived after the attack, told investigators that the dogs were "just doing their job" and that at least one of them was trained to attack when guns were pointed at it, the report said.

The owner also told investigators that they were family dogs and were contained by an invisible fence.

On Wednesday, the owner said the dogs have been put down.

"I would not own any kind of animal that would do something like this. We are all traumatized with this freak accident and are praying for Adrienna and her family," they said.

 

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