15-year-old describes attack

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A teenage girl was recovering at home Wednesday, one day after she was attacked in her yard by a neighbor’s dog.

Elizabeth Stanek, 15, was bitten on her legs by the 2-year-old pit bull Tuesday evening while outside her home near Hickory Grove Road. She was taken to Presbyterian Hospital where she was treated and released

The animal also charged at an officer who responded to a call for help, Stanek said. The officer fired a shotgun, killing the dog.

“I just don’t understand what happened,” Stanek said Wednesday morning, adding she often approached the dog when it freed itself from a tether in the neighbor’s yard.

“I said, ‘Hey, come here boy. I’m going to put you back on your chain.’ And he just sniffed me and started ripping my skirt off,” she said.

The animal’s owner, Phillip Thames, said he was at work at the time of the attack.

Thames said he adopted the pit bull, named Dan, from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Control facility in southwest Charlotte.

Dan was well-mannered and had only acted aggressively once before, charging at a friend, Thames said.

“He was like a family member,” Thames’ roommate Angeli Bhalla said as she fought back tears. “He’s not typically what you think of pit bulls at all.”

Victims usually are familiar with the animals which bit them, said Melissa Knicely-Berry, a spokesperson for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Control.

The agency does not track the number of incidents involving particular breeds, but pit bulls have grown in popularity based on the number of dog licenses issued in Mecklenburg, Knicely-Berry said.

Stanek said she planned to be more cautious around dogs after her experience this week.

“It was just weird, I’ve never seen that side of Dan,” she said.