It's been a rough week.

Last Wednesday evening, I let Dolly out to roam in the yard a bit. This is something she's done many times before. She stays close by, doesn't bother anybody and enjoys dangling her paws over the porch step sniffing the evening breeze.

When I went out to check on her, I saw her by the front porch, wagging her tail in a friendly greeting to another dog, but could not see the dog. Then came the growls and the terror.

I grabbed the big shovel and ran down the steps. Sure enough, my neighbor's pit bull, who is known to thoroughly dislike other dogs had Dolly by the face. Whacking it on the back did no good and then they took off into the dark.

It seemed like an hour, but it was only a few minutes. All I heard from my neighbor was "I got 'em." No, I'm sorry is Dolly okay. No checking the next day to see how bad the injuries were.

No nothing.

When I calmed down, I called the sheriff, who came out right away, saw all the blood, and took my statement.

Then I took pictures. This was difficult, but it's important. Everything needs to be documented.

The next day I took her to the vet's office where she was checked out, wounds treated, and pictures taken. Due to all of her hair, they missed the wound on her face. I found it and will be taking her back for reassessment tomorrow. That too will be documented.

When I have the vet report and copies of all the pictures in hand, I'll call the dangerous animal control dept. After that I'll see my lawyer.

It's taken me a long time to learn the steps and follow through when something like this happens. And it's happened to me before in other states with other dogs and other neighbors. Each state has it's own set of laws so if you run into a problem with a dangerous animal, don't be afraid to document and follow through. Be sure to check out free legal aid if you need to.

Many people have pit bulls for a variety of reasons, but if they're aggressive, they need to be on a leash.

Unfortunately, the one that attacked Dolly seems to be left alone quite a bit.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks for being there.