70-year-old woman bites pit bull to save her dog during attack

Shirley Pasamanick, 70, bit a pit bull to save her dog during an attack. WESH via CNN Newsource

ORLANDO, Florida — A 70-year-old Orlando woman says she had to fight off a pit bull to save her dog during a sudden attack outside a grocery store.

Shirley Pasamanick told WESH 2 she was leaving the store on Sept. 1 when a pit bull bolted toward her 14-year-old dog, Sparky, and latched onto him.

“It just out of nowhere bolted at us,” Pasamanick said. “And I did everything I could. We ended up on the ground.”

Surveillance video shows Pasamanick, who weighs about 90 pounds, using her cane and her hands in an effort to pry the dog off. When that didn’t work, she said, she resorted to biting the pit bull on the back of its neck.

“I couldn’t open his mouth,” Pasamanick said. “So … I bit him. I had to! I’m 91 pounds! I have no strength!”

The tactic worked long enough for a man — who Pasamanick says deputies are trying to identify — to pull the pit bull away. The man then walked off with the dog on a leash.

Sparky survived the attack but is still shaken, Pasamanick said. She credits the senior dog with giving her strength and purpose.

“Really, he’s the reason some days I get up,” she said. “You gotta take care of your dog.”

By Tony Atkins, WESH