A Georgia couple says they are traumatized after their neighbor’s three small dogs ran onto their property and attacked them – prompting the husband to now pack his pistol every time he steps outside his home.
Surveillance footage captured the moment dogs belonging to Melody and Michael Barnhill’s neighbor rushed across their front lawn and into their garage, where they attacked the couple on Memorial Day.
Video shows two small dogs, later followed by a third, run up to woman and chased her into the garage as she shrieked in fear. It's unclear what breed the dog’s were.
“I was just screaming at the top of my lungs,” Melody told WSB-TV.
Her husband, Michael, came rushing to her side. Footage shows him swinging a plastic watering can at two of the dogs as he screamed, “Get off her. Get off her. Get off her.”
Despite his efforts, the dogs turned on him – with a third joining in on the attack.
“That’s when that one really got into my leg. The second one came up,” he said. Michael suffered serious injuries to his leg and groin – and said his doctor told him he was lucky he didn’t bleed out.
At one point during the attack, Melody went to grab her gun, but was unable to hit any of the dogs, she told the news station.
The Barnhills said the dogs’ owner, a neighbor, watched the attack unfold but had “no sense of urgency” in helping to stop it. Animal services removed the dogs but said they couldn’t ensure they wouldn’t return. The Barnhills were also upset that the owner was never cited for the incident.
“They should not be back. And the owners should be cited,” Melody said.
The couple was also upset after learning from a county official that the dogs had bitten someone else in another neighborhood.
Now, Michael says he packs his pistol whenever he leaves his home.
“When I open up this garage, I gotta have my gun on my hip at all times because you don’t know what you’re going to walk into,” he said.
Officials are investigating the incident. The neighbor involved could not be reached by WSB-TV.
