Dog Owner Stabs Foster Pet For Attacking Groomer, Canine Euthanized

In this image, a pit bull looks out from a cage in the Liberty Humane Society shelter in New Jersey, July 24, 2007. Mario Tama/Getty Images

A dog owner stabbed her foster pet after the canine attacked a groomer during a session in Cortland, Ohio, on Sunday.

According to the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office, the groomer, identified as 52-year-old Elizabeth Kesner, was clipping the nails of the rescued pit bull when the canine attacked her. Kristin Boyd, the woman fostering the dog, immediately used a Taser and pepper spray on the animal. However, when nothing worked, the woman got a knife from the kitchen and stabbed the canine behind the rib cage. The dog immediately let go of the groomer after which it was put in a cage.

Kesner was rushed to a nearby hospital and doctors said she had suffered “compound fractures to both bones in her left arm.” The woman would also need to undergo a plastic surgery on her face and ear.

Meanwhile, officials said the canine belonged to the Pitbull Advocates of Armstrong County, an agency out of Kittanning, Pennsylvania. Boyd told the officers that she was looking after the canine for four months and that it had a history of biting people.

The pit bull was taken to a nearby veterinary office where it was euthanized. The canine will be tested for rabies.

In a similar incident in Warren, Ohio, in July, a groomer was attacked by a dog she was working on. The groomer had the large schnauzer on a grooming table when the canine started attacking her. The other employees managed to get hold of the dog and put it in a cage before calling 911.

Animal Control Officer John Onatz said, “When I got there the worst fears played out that a groomer was actually bitten by a dog and that a dog she was working on would turn on her like that. First time I had a groomer incident like this with a dog.”

The groomer was rushed to a nearby hospital with bite marks on her arms and leg. The dog was released back to the owner who wasn’t charged.

“The lady who was bit was very tearful as well feeling bad for the dog owner and everything. Just a bad situation all the way around,” Onatz said.