NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A woman who was attacked by two rottweilers said she is now dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder in the aftermath of the incident last Thursday morning.
Kenesha Lee was tackled and bitten by the dogs while walking in the Colonial Place neighborhood last Thursday morning.
Lee and her family grew up in Colonial Place. Since moving out, she often comes back to the water to reflect and feel peace.
“My grandfather had just recently passed away,” Lee said. “So I just came out ’cause, as you can see, this is peaceful, I like water. I like to come out here, talk to God, clear my mind.”
But that peace would soon become panic. She often says hello to dogwalkers, but something different happened this time.
“It was more, ‘Hey, how you doing, nice day,’ and that was it,” Lee said. “But for some reason her dogs kind of stopped. Her dogs stopped her in her tracks.”
Lee said it happened so quickly, she had no time to react.
“I didn’t know if it was coming up to smell me,” she said. “I knew he wasn’t smelling me out by the time he got close ’cause they were growling.”
A noise, she said, that was unforgettable.
Doorbell camera video shows the two Rottweilers lunging at Lee, tackling her to the ground and taking their owner down as well. Lee said the dogs bit her leg, arm and backside. She limped to the nearby pickup, seen in the video, and asked if she could climb in the back to escape. She stayed there until an ambulance took her to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Doctors stitched her up and gave her pain medications. Lee’s sister said she’s normally a dog lover, but now suffers PTSD whenever she sees one. She fears it could have been much worse.
“It could have been a child out here, or, while those dogs had my sister on the ground, they could have punctured her neck, and I would not had a sister,” Candice Lee said. “And as we’re already grieving our grandfather, we could have been grieving about my sister too.”
Neighbors told 10 On Your Side they are surprised, saying they know the dogs to be sweet-tempered. Norfolk Animal Control told Lee this was the first time these dogs have been reported. Lee now plans on carrying protection when she walks.
Norfolk Police confirmed Animal Protection Officers responded to a dog bite call on Oct. 17 around 10 a.m. When asked if the dog owner was facing any charges, a police spokesperson told WAVY Animal Protection officers advised this was a civil matter.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.