Dog attack leaves Muncie woman with severe wounds
MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie woman remained hospitalized on Friday, six days after she was savagely attacked by two pit bulls as she walked down a southside alley.
Kasie Hullinger — with a significant number of bite wounds on both arms and legs — became emotional when recalling the attack, which took place on July 15 in an alley near Eighth and Monroe streets.
"I thought I was losing my life that day," she tearfully said. "I was sure I was losing my life."
The 23-year-old Hullinger said the incident took place after the two dogs "came running from around a privacy fence down the alley.
"They were chasing another dog ... and they stopped and turned around and looked at me.
"They both just started attacking me out of nowhere. I didn't even get the impression they were going to attack me. No warning at all.
"They both just started tearing flesh off of me like it was nothing."
Hullinger said she began to scream for help. A woman living nearby stepped outside with a handgun and fired a shot into the air.
"That didn't scare them," Hullinger said. The woman then shot one of the dogs, apparently in the mouth, but that seemed to make the animal even more aggressive.
"He started attacking me even more," Hullinger said.
The woman emerged from her property and fired additional shots in a bid to rescue Hullinger.
At that point, a Muncie police officer, Travis Barber, arrived at the scene.
Barber applied a tourniquet to one of Hullinger's arms and placed himself between the wounded woman and the pit bulls. The more aggressive of the animals then bit the officer on the leg, prompting Barber to fire a gunshot that killed the dog.
The other dog fled to the animals' home, believed to be about two blocks from the scene of the violence. That canine was later taken into custody by animal control workers.
Hullinger was taken by ambulance to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, where she underwent four hours of surgery.
According to her fiance, Travis Vannatter, it took a total of 29 stitches to close her wounds.
Hullinger said Friday she was told she had been bitten by the dogs more than 30 times.
"I've been here (in the hospital) for six days now, and they're just basically waiting for me to stop being so sick and for my kidneys to stop overworking themselves and for me to be able handle all of the medicine they give me," she said on Friday.
Since the incident, she has been plagued by nightmares and occasional panic attacks.
"(Vannatter) has to take care of me all of the time because I can barely walk on my own. It's been taking a toll on us mentally and physically, pretty hard."
The events of the past week have also disrupted the home repair business the couple operates together.
Family members have started a GoFundMe account— Fundraiser by Stephanie Hullinger : Help Kasie recover from a dog attack. (gofundme.com) — to help the couple make ends meet.
Hullinger said despite the attack, she has nothing against pit bulls in general.
In fact, she has pit bulls of her own and loves those animals.
"They would never do this," she said. "They are not that way at all.
"It's all about how you raise them."
"It's the owner, not the dog," Vannatter added.
Steve Cox, a captain with the Muncie Police Department, said Friday that an investigation of the July 15 dog attack was continuing.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter for The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Dog attack leaves Muncie woman with severe wounds
