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A Florida woman was attacked by two dogs while making a food deliveryThe dogs’ owner tried to warn the delivery driver to stop approaching the house, but she did not hear the warningThe dogs’ owners are attempting to get their dogs back from authorities
A Florida woman was hospitalized after she was attacked by two dogs while delivering food.
Frances “Fran” Williams, the delivery driver, was walking up to a house in Ormond Beach, Fla., to make a delivery when the homeowner attempted to warn her to stop approaching the house, according to local Fox 35. The Daytona Beach News-Journal also reported that the dogs’ owner Stephanie Sullivan shouted to Williams, telling her to “look out” before the first dog attacked her.
But “before anything could be done, I realized there was a dog hanging on my leg,” Williams, 55, told the newspaper.
Moments later, another dog also latched on to her arm, the newspaper reported.
“I was screaming for help,” Williams said. “I really felt like I was going to die.”
Sullivan’s husband was able to pull the dogs off of Williams, who was later transported in an ambulance to the local Halifax Health Medical Center, where she had surgery to heal the wounds.
The June 20 incident led to the two dogs — a Staffordshire and a Labrador retriever mix — being taken away by Volusia County Animal Services, where they remain in custody while their owners appeal authorities’ decision to classify them as “dangerous,” the outlets report.
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Citing a police report, Fox 35 and the News-Journal reported that Sullivan was waiting outside for Williams to show up to the home with her food delivery when her baby began to cry inside the home. Sullivan went inside to check on her child when Williams arrived and began approaching the house. Sullivan then attempted to warn Williams to stop walking up to the house, but Williams did not hear the warning.
Williams’ daughter launched a GoFundMe to help her 55-year-old mother raise money to pay for her medical bills. Williams’ daughter Meghan wrote that her mother “had to undergo blood transfusions, and a five-hour-long surgery to secure her wounds and close her up.”
“She has a long recovery process ahead of her, but we are so thankful for the medical staff who was able to get her taken care of,” Williams’ daughter wrote. “They told her there were a few times that they were worried that she would not survive due to blood loss.”
Fox 35 reported that Sullivan said she and her family plan to contest the Volusia County Animal Services’ decision to classify the dogs as “dangerous” in order to try to get their pets back out of custody. The outlet reported that a hearing scheduled for last Wednesday, July 9, did not take place after the dogs’ owners failed to show up in court.
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