Senior vs pit bull

Gary Reaves reports.

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GARLAND — At age 82, Dorothy Davis is a fighter.

On Monday, she was in a battle she couldn't afford to lose — the fight to save her schnauser from a pit bull.

Experts say you should never try to break up a dog fight (especially when one of them is a pit bull), but don't tell that to Davis.

She's got scrapes, bad bruises and a ruptured vein on her left leg. "It punctured; it's bleeding again," she said, reaching down to dab the blood before it dripped on the carpet.

Davis was in the fight of her life, protecting her beloved schnauser, Cuda, from a pit bull attack. "He's not getting around too good," she said.

Davis and Cuda had just left their backyard gate, heading out for their normal morning walk Monday. As they passed the house next door, she noticed that the gate that's normally closed was open. That's when the pit bull pounced on Cuda.

"I just knew he was going to kill him, and I was not going to let that happen," Davis said. "I was beating on the dog. I got a hold of his collar and I was beating on him. I tried to kick him, and he threw me down, but I didn't let go of his collar."

She ended up lying on top of the pit bull until he calmed down. The dog didn't bite Davis, so animal control just wrote a ticket to its owner. Davis will have to file a complaint to get him removed.

"If a dog exhibits dangerous propensities, the animal services manager can deem it dangerous; that means the dog must be removed from Garland and cannot return," said David Chessher from the Garland Health Department.

The vet who patched up Cuda chastised Davis. "He said, 'You don't ever break up a dog fight.' I said, 'When it's my dog, I do,'"

Who's going to argue with a lady who fights pit bulls — and wins?

E-mail greaves@wfaa.com