Taunton woman attacked by 6 dogs trying to save family dog

Editor's note: This story contains graphic photos of the woman's injuries

BOSTON -- A Taunton woman attacked by six dogs is recovering from awful injuries.

Rochelle Silva recalls being on the ground as six pitbulls attacked her and she thinks the officer who responded should have done more to stop it.

"All six were on me. If there were six of them then all six were on me," Silva said from her hospital room Friday. "All six of them were biting at me."

Taunton police say she was attacked by six pitbulls that came out of a home on Broadway Wednesday night.

"Bites all over my body. I got a bite on my face, bites on my arms," Silva said. "I have a big chunk out of my right leg...behind my knee cap that went right to the bone."

She was walking her daughter's dog, Ace, when at least one dog got out. Police say when the owner tried to get that dog, five more escaped.

"They weren't able to get at Ace," Silva said. "They kept biting at me to get at Ace."

She said she tried to run across the street to put Ace over a fence so the dogs couldn't get him.

An officer on patrol saw the attack and stopped. Police say the officer could not use his weapon because the dogs were so close to the victim so he activated his lights and sirens to scare the dogs. Silva recalls a good Samaritan being the one help get her to safety while the officer was in his cruiser.

"He told the cop to unlock the door so he could get me in the car and he put me in the car," she said. "I don't know how I lost Ace. I don't know how I lost Ace in my arms."

Rochelle's daughter found Ace in a nearby yard.

"His breaths were very, very faint and slow," Arianna Silva said. "But he was breathing a little bit, so we rushed him to West Bridgwater Animal Hospital"

Ace died from his injuries. Rochelle Silva, who her daughter says has worked her whole life helping others at various non-profits, could be out of work for months.

The Good Samaritan was also bitten, but had a minor injury.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help Rochelle and her family, which can be found here.

Cox Media Group