Dog ate me alive

I could hear him crunching my bones and eating off flesh

By Sara Nuwar

MANGLED Mandy Peynado lay face down frozen in terror...as a rottweiler began EATING her alive.

She could feel his razor-sharp teeth CRUNCHING into her bones as the panting 12-stone beast CHEWED her arm off.

She saw him greedily WASH DOWN lumps of her flesh with jets of BLOOD squirting from her gaping wounds.

And then he started on her other limbs...

Today Mandy, 48, speaks about her 90-minute nightmare for the first time in gripping, bloodcurdling detail.

"I didn't scream despite the pain—because that would have made things worse," says the kennel maid who suffered more than ONE HUNDRED BITES from the devil dog's enormous jaws and was left 15 MINUTES from death.

"I just focused on trying to stay alive throughout it all. I said to myself, ‘I'm not dying today, not here and not in this way'."

Her terrifying ordeal—a warning to every rottweiler owner—began one morning in December as she worked alone at the kennels, giving the dogs their breakfast.

Mandy shudders: "I let this dog Diesel, a rottweiler, out to go to the toilet. He was in the section for stray animals. Diesel was a large dog but he had never shown any signs of aggression. He was obedient. He would heel or sit when you asked him to. You could pat him and tickle his tummy.

"He was used to the routine and bounced out of his pen following me down the corridor towards the patch of grass."

But then a switch clicked somewhere in the massive dog's brain. And as Mandy walked across the yard she felt a sharp tug on the sleeve of her fleece.

Teeth

"There was no snarling, no barking, no noise. He had my sleeve and his weight pulled me to the ground. I thought he was playing. But as I struggled to get to my feet he plunged his teeth into my arm.

"He started to really yank it about. I don't know if it was pulled out of the socket but I heard it crunch.

"It was all done so quietly. I was just trying to stay calm and not scream. I knew no one was around to hear. I was trying to lie on my front to protect my throat. If he bit me there it would all have been over."

It was 8.20am. Mandy knew a customer was due in at 9.30. She prayed to stay alive until then.

"He was shaking me around and breaking my bones. My arm was limp and just looked like a skeleton at the end. The flesh was torn off. I knew I was going to lose it.

"The silver bracelet I was wearing had fallen into one of the holes and was resting on the bone."

The dog then dragged her 50 yards across the grass. All the other dogs, still locked in their kennels, were barking.

"They were going crazy. I knew they wanted to help me," says Mandy.

"Diesel then went for my other arm. The pain was even worse. I didn't scream but at one point I made a noise or groaned. That just excited him and he tore and shook me even harder.

"He was playing with me like I was a toy. He ripped away my armpit. The feeling is difficult to describe. It's a searing pain, like a deep burning.

"But the worst bit was the sound of him eating the flesh off. I could hear him crunching the bones in my arm. It's so strange knowing it's your body he's eating.

"He was lapping up the blood as it spurted out of the holes in my arm. It looked more like a leg of lamb. The bone was just sticking out of the end." The rottweiler began dragging her again towards long grass out of sight of the office.

Mandy knew if help arrived no one would see her. So she hooked her legs round a flowerpot to prevent the dog from dragging her any further.

"I know he wanted to finish me off. He was so strong the flower pot was being dragged away too.

"He took me to four different parts of the kennels. There were pools of blood in all of them. He then took my Wellingtons off with his teeth and started on my leg.

"I thought, ‘No please, no more, not my leg too'." Then the switch in his head clicked back again—and he suddenly stopped and padded away. "I just tried to stay alive until help came," says Mandy. "It was so cold. There was frost on the ground. He had slowly shredded my jacket off and my clothes were torn, my boots were off.

"I was bleeding to death. I knew if I didn't stay calm my blood would pump faster. The adrenalin kicks in. I just wanted to survive."

Stump

At 9.50am, the customer arrived at the kennels in West Grimstead, Wilts, and saw Mandy's crumpled body lying in a heap. The monster dog—who was later put down—was sittling quietly in a corner.

Mandy was taken by air ambulance to nearby Salisbury District Hospital. He left arm was a mangled stump but a top team of surgeons spent 10 hours saving her right one. She spent three days in a coma, had three blood transfusions and spent two weeks battling for her life in intensive care.

More than nine skin grafts were needed to help heal her mauled limbs and her left stump will eventually be fitted with a prosthetic arm.

Despite what happened to her, brave Mandy still loves dogs.

"I'm not going to be scared of them. My mum has three but I haven't seen a rottweiler since this happened," she says.

"It's like bringing a lion into your home. They have been bred for a special reason. They shouldn't be kept in the house, especially with small children. The strength of their jaws is incredible. That dog weighed four stone more than me.

"I'm not anti-rottweilers but people have to be aware of what they are capable of."

The Health and Safety Executive are investigating the attack and Mandy is also seeking legal advice.

Her solicitor Denise Broomfield said: "She will require help in the future to look after herself and is unlikely to return to work.

"The effect on her life has been catastrophic."

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