Oneida woman mauled by family pet
Doctors use 1,000 stitches to close wounds
Saturday, March 17, 2007
BY TOM LOEWY
THE REGISTER-MAIL
Twenty-one minutes.
Gayla Holmes set her cell phone down at 8:25 p.m. Monday night
and grabbed a few treats for Captain.
It was the start of a ritual that took place almost every day
between the 60-year-old Oneida resident and the Australian
shepherd.
But something was wrong with the dog who was, according to
Gayla, a "beloved member of our family" for three years.
The next time Gayla picked up the cell phone, it was 8:46 p.m.
She was covered in her own blood and barely conscious.
Gayla called her husband, Dick Holmes.
"I picked up my cell phone and it was Gayla," Dick said Friday as
he stood in his wife's room in OSF St. Mary Medical Center.
"She said 'Captain attacked me. I'm bleeding to death. Call 911.'
Then she hung up."
Captain's teeth shredded Gayla's arms and lower legs. Two
doctors worked for 2 1/2 hours and used 1,000 stitches to close
approximately 100 wound sites.
"Captain really was a friend," Gayla said from her hospital bed. "I
don't know what happened that night. It was like he was
possessed. He was crazy."
Gayla recounted the 21-minute struggle from her hospital bed.
She was surrounded by her husband, her son David Quick,
granddaughters Madelyn Quick and Cora McNeal and flowers sent
by well-wishers.
Her arms and lower legs
were heavily bandaged.
"Dick and I got home
Monday night at just
after 8 p.m. David had
asked me to take Captain
in and put him down in
the basement where we
keep his bachelor's pad,"
Gayla said. "I talked to
my son Darren on the
phone and then I
grabbed some treats for
Captain."
Gayla left her cell phone on the floor next to where the treats
were kept. She went outside the portion of the yard where Captain
was tethered to a 50-foot line.
"I walked out and I said 'Hi, Captain, I've got some treats for you.'
Captain started to growl and when I walked over to him, he
lunged at me and knocked me down."
Captain showed his teeth and snarled at Gayla. Then he attacked
in earnest.
"He sunk his teeth into my arm," she said. "I remember yelling,
'Captain, it's Mommy. Why do want to hurt me?' But I could tell he
didn't even hear me. He wanted to kill me. His teeth felt so big."
Gayla said the dog tried to reach her face and neck, but she
warded off the bites with her arms.
"I started screaming for help, but I realized no one was coming,"
she said.
During the attack, Gayla managed to start to roll away from the
dog. She grabbed Captain's jaw and pulled his ears back. The dog
turned his attention to her legs.
"He ripped one of my shoes off and got his teeth into my ankles,"
she said. "The pain was horrific."
Gayla recalled thinking the dog was going to kill her.
"I was screaming and then I just called to God. I prayed. I was
just saying prayers and finally I said that I just wanted to see my
kids and my grandkids again."
Toward the end of the attack, Captain lunged for Gayla's upper
body again. The dog took a chunk of her left forearm.
"Finally he got a mouthful of my forearm and tore it loose," she
said. "I was able to roll away."
Unable to walk, Gayla crawled into the house. The batteries in the
phone nearest to the door were dead. She crawled into the house,
tried to use the wall phone and failed.
"Finally, we think she just fell down," Dick said. "She was near the
dog treats and there was the cell phone."
Gayla and her entire family are at a loss to explain the suddenly
violent behavior from a dog they described as "social, smart and
was always good around the kids and other animals."
David Quick owned the dog and had it euthanized Tuesday
morning. Preliminary tests showed that Captain was current on all
his vaccinations and did not have rabies.
David is left with guilt over the attack on his mother.
"Captain was a great dog," he said. "He never, ever attacked
anyone before. I took him with me to parties and social
gatherings. He was a great Frisbee dog. He loved playing and
always wanted to play."
Gayla said there may have been some warning signs the family
didn't notice.
"Captain's behavior had changed slightly, now that we look back
on it," she said. "He had maybe been a little more irritable. I
would just encourage people to pay attention to the little changes
in their pets."
Gayla said she didn't know how long her recovery would take. She
said she may be released from the hospital Monday.
"I'm just glad to be alive," she said. "I really thought Captain was
going to kill me."
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Teaching a FRIENDLY puppy to not to biteby khtervola42,610 views
Sooooooooooo saddd
Shanerox480 8 months ago
@doganddisc My friend above Madi said YOUR ALL WRONG! MADI QUICK glitter4 who was GAylas daughter! greyparrot266- NO HE DIDNT JUST GET SHOTS YOU DUMB @ss!!!!! And doganddisc- HE WASNT GIVING WARNING SIGHNS @ssH013!!!!!AND LINDSEY------ it was not a AUSSIES!!! It says it 60 millipon times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!jesus christ you stupid ppl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jenniferrules1 1 year ago
@ovcharkasuk yes this is a real story and I am the granddaughter of Gayla Holmes. It was a devistating time. I was relived to see that my grandma was going to be okay.
gilitter4 1 year ago
This story is about my Grandma and I am David Quick's daughter. Captian was my brother. He was the nicest and most laid back dog I have ever met. I was in 2nd grade and my mom pullled me out of class and we went to the hospital to see my grandma. Please be cautious around big dogs.
gilitter4 1 year ago
Aussies are not normally like this! Did he have rabies? Something had to be wrong with him. Aussies are normally very friendly, loyal.
If you go up to a dog that is growling and jumping at you, you dererve what you get. Use your brain people!
Lindsey682 2 years ago
WHY would you walk up to any dog giving you warning signs? IDIOT PEOPLE.
doganddisc 2 years ago
Another tethered dog, when will people learn, Also, esearch shows some dogs react badly to the rabies vaccine. Perhaps he had just received his shots?
greyparrot266 2 years ago
Is this a really story ?? Poor lady
ovcharkasuk 2 years ago