A horrific dog attack in California has left a teenage girl with severe injuries after she was assaulted by a group of ‘large-breed dogs’ during her morning run.
Tracy Azpeitia, aged 17, was jogging close to her house in Newberry Springs on July 17 when she was encircled and attacked by no fewer than 10 dogs, as reported by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
The girl’s mom remembers her daughter asking a gut-wrenching question the moment she saw Tracy at the scene of the attack.
‘I got close to her and [she asked me] “Mom, am I still pretty?” and I said, “Yeah, you’re beautiful,”‘ Maria Azpeitia, told ABC7.
The incident happened just after 8 a.m. along the 30000 block of Newberry Road in a sparse, desert area of Southern California.
‘I thought she was going to be fine because she walks to her bus stop every morning,’ the mom added.
‘I never thought anything would happen to her.’
Tracy was headed to a workout facility near the community center. A neighbor heard the young girl’s screams and called 911.
Tracy Azpeitia, 17, was out jogging near her home in Newberry Springs on July 17 when she was surrounded and mauled by at least 10 dogs
Her injuries were so severe that her mother couldn’t recognize her upon reaching the scene. Pictured: Tracy Azpeitia’s injuries
The sheriff’s officials mentioned in a statement that they spoke to the victim’s parents and found out that she had been jogging when she fell victim to the attack by 10 or more large dogs.
‘The dogs bit the victim several times on her legs and arms. The bites caused large lacerations, abrasions, and removed flesh.’
Following the incident, a total of 16 dogs were confiscated from the area by San Bernardino County Animal Control. Investigators noted that these dogs were neither leashed nor fenced in, and they assume the dogs belonged to a nearby resident.
Tracy’s stepfather, Carlos Ramirez, revealed that the teenager endured hundreds of bites across her body, necessitating over 500 stitches to close the cuts and wounds inflicted by the dogs.
‘It was not one dog or two dogs, it was a lot,’ Ramirez said. ‘I mean, they bit every part of her body you could think of except for her ankles.’
The dogs bit the victim several times on her legs and arms. The bites caused large lacerations, abrasions, and removed flesh
‘I didn’t know who she was,’ Tracy’s mom, Maria Azpeitia (pictured), told ABC7. ‘She was so dirty, covered in dirt, so I couldn’t recognize my daughter. I recognized her bra, that’s what I recognized’
Tracy was hospitalized at Loma Linda Children’s Hospital and has since been released, though she still cannot walk on her own. Pictured: Tracy Azpeitia’s injuries
The attack left her so badly injured that her own mother said she was unrecognizable when she arrived at the scene.
‘I didn’t know who she was,’ Tracy’s mom said. ‘She was so dirty, covered in dirt, so I couldn’t recognize my daughter. I recognized her bra, that’s what I recognized.’
‘I thought they ripped her arms off,’ the distraught mother added. ‘That’s what it looked like.’
Tracy was hospitalized at Loma Linda Children’s Hospital and has since been released, though she still cannot walk on her own.
A GoFundMe has been set up by Tracy’s family to help with her recovery and ongoing medical care.
‘She was getting ready to do her senior year of high school this year. Now, because of this, she has to stay home and go to several doctor’s appointments and rehab. Due to the trauma, she cannot sleep at night; she’s having nightmares,’ the fundraising page reads.
Local residents have since voiced growing concern about stray and unrestrained dogs in the area.
A total of 16 dogs were seized from the area by San Bernardino County Animal Control following the attack. Pictured: Local dogs seen just outside the Newberry Springs scene
Investigators say the dogs were not leashed or fenced and are believed to have belonged to a nearby resident. Pictured: A local dog seen just outside the Newberry Springs scene
Local residents have since voiced growing concern about stray and unrestrained dogs in the area. Pictured: Kristine Watson, a Newberry Springs resident
‘We have been in situations where we’re out walking, and all of a sudden dogs rush out from a fence, or out of nowhere, and start circling around us,’ Kristine Watson, a Newberry Springs resident, told ABC7.
The dogs are currently being housed at the Barstow Humane Society – about 17 miles from the attack site.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
The attack occurred just two weeks before a separate fatal mauling in San Bernardino, where a 51-year-old woman was killed by a pack of dogs near a local park, the Victorville Daily Press reported.
