CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A pack of pit bulls attacked and killed a family pet Tuesday, injuring an east Charlotte woman as she tried to rescue her beloved Labrador dog.

"I didn't know I was bit," said Janice Oakley as she pointed to her bandaged hand. "All I could hear was Lucy (the lab) crying."

The attack happened on Endolwood Road, off North Sharon Amity. Oakley took Lucy the dog on their routine afternoon walk by a wooded area.

"I heard a noise in the woods," Oakley said. "Once they latched on to her, they didn't let her go."

It was three pit bulls. They dragged Lucy into the woods.

"When I went to grab one (of the pit bulls), this dog just turned its head and it bit me," Oakley said.

When police arrived, Lucy was still under attack. For safety reasons, police say they shot and killed two of the pit bulls. The third got away.

"She was always there," said Oakley about Lucy. "If I came home in a bad mood she would be there."   

Lucy’s leash now marks the spot of her attack. Three years ago, Oakley rescued Lucy. Like most pet owners, Oakley knows what Lucy meant to her.

"Everything," she said as her voice quivered. "Everything."

It may be hard to believe, but Oakley also feels sorry for the pit bulls. 

"Makes me angry more than anything that because these (pit bull) dogs were so ill brought up that owners disrespect their animals like that," she said.

Oakley owns two gentle pit bulls, Sincere and Diva. Lucy, Sincere and Diva grew up together.

"I don't want the children (in the neighborhood) to be afraid. I don't want them to see my dogs and run," Oakley said.