A woman lost her leg after she was attacked by her own dog when she was trying to break up a fight between it and another of her pets.
Tennessee woman Amanda Mears had her leg 'hanging on by a thread' after her American Pitbull and American Staffordshire terrier mix Dennis went for her rescue dog, an American Bully named Ralphie.
The Mirror reports that the pit bull terrier mix lunged for the other dog, but got his jaws around Amanda's left leg and wouldn't let go, with the 42-year-old having to strangle the dog with her other leg to get free so she could call for an ambulance.
She was rushed to hospital, and doctors told her that they could try and save what remained of her leg or they could perform an amputation.
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As the woman realised there was not much left of her leg to save after the dog attack, she decided to have it removed.
The mum also decided that Dennis would have to be euthanised as he was too dangerous to keep around her 10-year-old son.
"Dennis has always been the sweetest dog; he'd never been aggressive before," she told The Mirror of the dog that took her leg.
"When he charged at my other dog Ralphie, I got in between them, and that's when Dennis latched on to my leg and would not let go. I was a bit scared, but I've broken up dog fights before, and I didn't feel any pain because of the adrenaline.
"I ended up having to hook my right leg and my arms around him and choked him out to get him off of me. He also bit my left hand and crushed the bone in my right arm, but I don't think I even realised at the time."
Amanda explained that if she'd decided to save her leg which was 'basically hanging off' that she'd have needed 12 more surgeries over the next two years and been in serious pain during that time.
She added that Dennis had been her 'best friend' and she'd 'raised him from two weeks old', and that while it had 'hurt' to decide to put him down it hadn't been a 'difficult decision'.
Amanda has four dogs and has taken in animals abandoned by other owners, and while they had normally got along, she explained that Dennis had suddenly attacked Ralphie, who she'd had for around four months, as both dogs approached a cup.
She had decided to keep the animals apart and kept Ralphie in a bedroom, but on 10 December she saw he had escaped from there and was attacked by Dennis.
Getting between the dogs and grabbing Dennis' collar, he then sank his teeth into her leg, and once she got him to let go, he went back to attacking the other dog, who didn't fight back.
Amanda said the other dog survived by not doing this, as Dennis 'got bored and eventually let go' with no fight happening.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Amanda as she adjusts to life with one leg, which you can donate to here.
Joe Harker