PALATKA, Fla. – The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a dog attack that hospitalized a woman in Palatka on Wednesday.
Officials said the dog is believed to be a brown and white pit-bull mix breed.
It may have an injury to its head due to someone hitting it with a sledgehammer while it attacked the woman.
The sheriff’s office said Animal Control has a dog in its possession that matches the description and detectives are working to make sure it’s the same one that attacked the woman.
“There is a dog we have in custody from what we are being told as of this moment, it is going to be the dog that committed the attack,” Sgt. Nick Viera said.
The woman was hospitalized because of her injuries and told officials that she was walking in the area of Beech and Hicks when the dog attacked her. She told officials that a man working on a vehicle nearby heard her screams and hit the dog with a sledgehammer.
The man used a t-shirt to make a tourniquet and drove the woman to the hospital.
Deputies arrived at the hospital and said they saw multiple puncture wounds to the victim’s right leg and severe injuries to her elbow that almost severed her arm. The woman was flown to a trauma hospital and Viera said the woman is in stable condition.
“She said it happened so quick and she is trying to rest and get relieved from pain but she is in good spirits,” he said.
The sheriff’s office had extra patrols as students were being let out of school, though they do not believe a dangerous dog is running around.
Florida law says that a dog that has seriously hurt someone can be euthanized following an investigation.