Jefferson City man suffers injuries after being attacked by pit bulls

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Jefferson City man is recovering from injuries after he says he was attacked by three dogs at his home on the 500 block of Mesa Avenue last Friday.

Mike Howell describes the incident as terrifying and says he's grateful he made it out without any life-threatening injuries.

"If I had gotten outside of my garage,  they probably would have killed me. I couldn't have gotten away from them. They would have bitten my legs off I couldn't run," said Howell.

Howell says he was headed to his garage after he heard dogs barking from outside his home. Howell says he thought it was his son's dogs but when he opened his garage door three pit bulls he'd never seen before charged toward him.

"When I walked down the steps as I'm going slow because I got a bad knee I got to right here and the dogs were right here... right on me," said Howell.

Howell says he grabbed a hammer and tried his best to fight off the pit bulls but was viciously attacked for several minutes before he was able to slowly make his way back up the steps.

"I turned to go up the steps. I think that's when he got me in the calf, and he must have got me in my knee. The first time when I was there he must have bit me in my knee," Howell said.  

Howell had a serious injury to one of his legs that reportedly required four hours of surgery to repair. The pit bulls also broke some of Howell's fingers and bit his knees as Howell was trying to crawl up the steps.

"And then I got to screaming loud as I could and I think it riled them up. I think it made them mad," said Howell.

ABC 17 News contacted the Jefferson City Animal Shelter to see if they could tell us what happens when an event like this occurs but the shelter said to reach out to Jefferson City Police Department, which has not responded to our interview request.

Howell says he hopes that the animals are caught soon so this traumatic event isn't repeated.

"There's a lot of neighborhoods where people walk their dogs you got kids... it's it needs to be brought out to the public so everybody has a vision," said Howell.

According to Missouri's dog bite laws, in some cases, the owner might face criminal charges in addition to a civil lawsuit if a dog causes injury or death.

Jefferson City Police are asking if you have any information to contact the Animal Shelter at 573-634-6429 or the JCPD at 573-634-6400.