Woman, 71, Found Lying on a Front Porch with 'Severe Lacerations' After Being Mauled by at Least 10 Dogs in 'Vicious' Attack By Latoya Gayle 162

A 71-year-old woman was seriously injured in an attack that involved multiple dogs in Tennessee.

On Saturday, Sept. 6, authorities were dispatched to a residence in Madisonville, where they found Mary Norwood lying on the front porch, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) said in a news release shared on Facebook.

Norwood had “severe lacerations” to her body after being attacked by “approximately 10-15 pit bull mix dogs,” police said.

Witnesses and other bystanders were able to pull the dogs away from the elderly woman after the attack, authorities added.

“Upon arrival of Monroe County EMS, the female victim was treated on scene and subsequently transported to the University of Tennessee Hospital for further medical treatment,” the MCSO said in its news release. 

“I’ve seen dog bites, I’ve seen dog attacks, but I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Sue Pettingill, the MCSO’s public information officer, per local news outlet WVLT. “Nobody would have been able to get those dogs off of themselves because there were just too many of them.”

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Authorities have not confirmed Norwood’s condition following the dog attack. 

“I don’t know what her long-term issues are going to be from this because it was a very, very vicious attack. I’ve never seen or heard anything like this before,” Pettingill said, per WVLT. “There was nothing she could do. She was very vulnerable and helpless in that situation.”

Following an investigation by Monroe County Criminal Investigation Division Detectives and Monroe County Animal Control Officers, four people were charged with animals at large, resulting in a serious injury, a class E felony.

The four suspects — Clayton Warren Davis, 65, Sara June Burris, 44, Ricky Lee Burris, 57, Sheila Jenene Kryzak, 54 — were charged with 12 counts of dogs without rabies vaccinations and 26 counts of animal cruelty, the MCSO said in an updated news release on Sept. 8.

Animal control has since removed 27 dogs from the residence. “One dog belongs to the victim, 13 dogs belonging to the suspects were adult dogs and 13 dogs were puppies,” the MCSO said. 

Ricky, who is currently on “medical furlough,” is expected to receive additional charges for owning “a potentially vicious dog or a vicious dog as a violent felon” and failing to register as a sex offender, per the MCSO news release.

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Sara has additionally been charged with possession of paraphernalia, possession of drug paraphernalia and the introduction of contraband into a penal facility, police said.

The MCSO’s Pettingill told WBIR the recent occurence wasn’t the first time that dogs have been removed from the property.

However, she indicated it was the first time someone has been injured so badly because of the canines.

The MCSO did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for an update on Norwood’s condition and the incident on Saturday, Sept. 13.