Janelle Scott, Okmulgee, Oklahoma woman loses all 4 limbs in dog attack while riding bike after 2 pit bull dogs escape from homeless encampment after a break in. Victim faces long road of recovery ahead.
An Oklahoma woman lost all four of her limbs after being attacked by a pair of pit bulls while riding her bike earlier this month.
Janelle Scott of Okmulgee and her boyfriend were riding bikes to a friend’s house at around 11 p.m, September 8 when she was attacked by two pit bulls.
Pit bulls escape from nearby homeless encampment only to attack woman riding bike
At the time, Scott’s boyfriend was a ways behind her when the attack began. Scott’s mother, Cheryl, told KWTV-DT that her daughter knew the names of the pit bulls and tried calling them to stop.
The dogs continued to attack, however. Scott was able to get away once, but was chased down again and bit in the thigh. After catching up, her boyfriend tried fighting off the dogs before eventually calling for help, KWTV reported.
Responding officers told of hearing ‘someone yelling from a wooded area’ and ‘made their way down a trail into the wooded area’ before discovering Scott, who was ‘suffering from significant and severe injuries.’
Emergency medical assistance was provided by officers before an ambulance arrived, with the mauled woman taken to Tulsa St. Francis Hospital. Law enforcement confirmed that one of the dogs was killed during the fight with Scott’s boyfriend.
According to the statement provided to KWTV, there was a ‘homeless/transient encampment’ in the area, which is where the dogs were believed to have escaped from.
Okmulgee woman forced to have all 4 limbs amputated as she faces uncertain recovery
‘There is an RV-type trailer located in this area, and it is reported that the dog(s) were kept within this trailer. This trailer had reportedly been broken into at some point in the evening, which may have released the animals from confinement,’ cops told the outlet.
At the time of the attack, Okmulgee Police say the dogs’ owner was in jail and a friend was watching them according to FOX23.
The mauling led to Scott having both her right arm and left leg amputated. But there was more grief in store, when Scott had to later have her remaining limbs amputated due to the severity of her injuries.
The family has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for Janelle’s medical bills and her mom’s bills while she’s missing work to stay at the hospital.
Next steps for Scott include closer looks at her remaining limbs to see if she has enough muscle left to support prosthetics.
Authorities had yet to say whether there would be any charges forthcoming.
