NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A woman in Northwest Miami-Dade was brutally attacked by two dogs while on a morning walk Wednesday.
Mayela Rivera remains bandaged up across her arms and legs as she nurses her wounds.
Rivera was just blocks away from her home at 1907 NW 107th St. when she was attacked.
She said she heard barking, and then the two dogs pounced on her.
“I always walk through there. They grabbed me and pushed me down to the ground. I got these scratches and bruises when I fell onto the street,” she said.
Randy Rhymes, who helped the victim, said, “She was sitting there, her keys to the house were right there and she had a cell phone in her hand. I came out the house, and I said, ‘Get away! Get away!’ I started clapping my hands, and they ran back in the gate.”
Rivera was beyond thankful for Rhymes’s intervention, calling him her angel.
“I give thanks to God first and to the neighbor who God sent me to save me,” she said.
Animal services confirmed they responded to the Miami-Dade community, identifying the dogs as a terrier and an American bulldog, but they were gone when they arrived.
Rhymes said, “If it wasn’t for me coming, she wasn’t going to be able to get up because it didn’t look like they were going to stop biting on her.”
Rivera said she’s worried about the attack happening again and has no plans to walk near the area again.
Rivera said, “I would rather exercise at home than walk in the neighborhood.”
Animal services has made several attempts to contact the owner of the dogs about the incident, but their calls have not been returned.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.