Dog chews off Alton woman's toe

[Bleacher Creature]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/illinoisnews/story/E7552DFF0460CE208625747C0010061A?OpenDocument

Dog chews off Alton woman's toe
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/04/2008

ALTON — A dog chewed off an Alton woman's big toe while she napped earlier this week.

Linda Floyd, 56, is recovering at St. Anthony's Hospital in Alton. She is a diabetic who suffers from neuropathy and has no feeling in her feet.

Floyd said she was given the year-old dog when he was about 8 weeks old. She said Roscoe weighed about 8 pounds and was said to be a miniature dachshund, although she was not sure of his pedigree. In any case, she said, he had been a good pet and she was very fond of him.

Floyd took a nap Monday afternoon and awoke to find Roscoe licking her right foot. But she soon realized that her toe was gone. She said her reaction was "total shock."

The dog chewed off the toe and part of the toe joint and also severed an artery. Floyd said there had been an adhesive bandage on the toe because she had a hangnail.

An ambulance took Floyd to the hospital and Madison County Animal Control personnel picked up Roscoe.

Floyd said she later authorized euthanizing the dog out of concern he might hurt someone else. She said the alternatives were adoption to another home or returning him to her home. Floyd shares her home with two daughters, a son-in-law and an infant grandson.

[Celtic]

Wow. Lots of ways to go w/ this one.

[stlredman]

ewww!!

I'm not sure the dog deserved the death penalty.

[Bleacher Creature]

ewww!!

I'm not sure the dog deserved the death penalty.

Roscoe started out eating toes, he was going to work his way up the human body. He had to be eliminated ASAP.

No human male would have wanted this dog.

[BlueBrained]

This is at the Hospital I work at.

I do not think the dog deserved to die.

[Blues Fan in TX]

Bad dog. Bad.

[BlueBrained]

ALTON - A disabled woman is hospitalized, recovering after losing a big toe - chewed off by her beloved dog.

Linda Floyd saw the damage for the first time Wednesday, two days after the incident involving her miniature dachshund.

"That was horrible," said Floyd, 56, in her room at Saint Anthony's Health Center. "It's the first time I've seen it since it happened."

Floyd's 1-year-old dog, Roscoe, gnawed her right big toe completely off and part of the toe's knuckle, puncturing an artery while she was sleeping Monday afternoon.

Floyd, a diabetic who suffers from neuropathy and has no feeling in her toes, is unable to walk because of ongoing leg problems. She is legally blind in her right eye and unable to see well without glasses.

Floyd had a hangnail on the toe, which was covered with a bandage when she went to sleep about 2 p.m. Monday after a weekend camping trip with her family. When she woke up about 5 p.m., her toe was gone.

"I said, ‘Roscoe, what are you doing?' she recalled. "He moved right over and laid beside my foot. I was talking to him, petting him and holding my (foot) at the same time."

The toe was not found, but the family was so traumatized by the incident that Floyd's bloodied room still has not been cleaned up in the home she shares with other relatives on Gross Street in Alton. At this point, the toe cannot be reattached.

Floyd's dog came from a breeder in Moro who told her the dog was a miniature dachshund. However, Floyd harbored doubts about the pedigree, because the hair on the dog's back was wiry, not smooth, she said.

The breeder told Floyd's daughter, Amanda White, 26, that the dog was purebred and mailed American Kennel Club registration papers to the family, White said. The daughter bought the dog as a companion for her mother after Floyd broke her right leg April 18, 2007, and became disabled after surgery on the leg, which was not done at Saint Anthony's.

Although a reason for the dog's behavior can't be known for certain, Floyd's hangnail could have had something to do with it. The toe, in a healing state, could have given off a scent that attracted the animal, one veterinarian said.

The dog may have started by simply licking the toe, then went too far, said Dr. Robert Brakeville of Beltline Veterinary Clinic in Alton, which was not Roscoe's clinic or doctor.

"I'm sure the dog didn't realize what it did," he said. "Anything that has to heal like that, dogs pick up the scent."

Dr. Thorin Lindstrom, of the Daniel-Randall Veterinary Clinic in Godfrey, who also was unfamiliar with Roscoe, said he never had heard of a dog chewing off a person's toe.

"If a dog smelled something that got its attention, it might lick at that," Lindstrom said.

When Floyd awoke, she saw Roscoe licking and moving his head up and down. She thought he was trying to remove the existing bandage from her toe.

After she realized what happened, Floyd called her daughter, Elizabeth Floyd, 23, on Elizabeth's telephone line in the same house. Elizabeth ran to her mother's bedroom. What Elizabeth saw shocked her.

"It's hard to take in when you walk in a room and there's a dog eating your mom," Elizabeth said, sobbing. "She told me to come in, and I dropped my phone and took off running. I didn't think when I went in there I was going to see that."

Madison County Animal Control arrived after White called 911, and it took the dog. The Alton Police Department also responded to the scene, along with an ambulance.

The family, including White and her fiance, Scott Lambert, all live together. They also said they loved the dog and mourned its death. Roscoe was not underfed and weighed 1 pound more than his ideal weight when county workers picked up the dog, Floyd said.

"I would never have let the dog stay in the room with her had I known," White said, also sobbing.

Floyd described the dog, which she had euthanized for safety reasons, as lovable, playful, protective and "spoiled like my own baby." He slept either at the foot of Floyd's bed or between her legs.

"I love him. I miss him," she said, holding back tears.

Floyd, whose high blood sugar led to neuropathy, said her spirits were high because of the staff at Saint Anthony's.

"The care has been so good and loving," she said. "I've had episodes when I cry. They come in and sit with me, and I think that's what helped me through the process. I'm hoping I stay up this way."

Floyd chose to euthanize Roscoe to keep other people safe, she said.
White was two months premature when she gave birth May 16 to a son, James Lee Lambert, who lives with them.

Floyd said county officials told her they could have kept Roscoe 10 days before returning him to his home; kept him with permission to let him be adopted; or put him to sleep.

"I still can't believe this happened," Floyd said. "I'm still in a state of shock."

[SKIDOG]

That shit happended on Weeds. It was the second and third toe though and the guy started making fetish porn "toe" banging chicks...

[bill s preston esq]

That woman looks almost exactly as I pictured her while reading the story.

[Bleacher Creature]

Bad dog. Bad.

If he'd been content with licking his own balls, he'd still be alive.

[Celtic]

That woman looks almost exactly as I pictured her while reading the story.

++

[MsFunkay]

apparently these dumbasses never had a dog before or they'd know puppies chew on everything including your toes and fingers.