Former pit bull owner recovering after dog attack

PRICE HILL (FOX19) - It's a story that's becoming all too common:  Pit bulls attacking young children, even adults.
 
Monday, another victim and former pit bull owner is speaking to FOX19 about her recovery.
 
Tammy Tucker left the hospital earlier this month but goes back regularly for checkups. Many say these attacks are caused by bad owners, but this Price Hill family argues that wasn't the case for them.
 
"I thought I was going to die," said Tammy Tucker.
 
Tammy Tucker still has a bandage on her arm and a massive bruise on her leg that her husband shot a picture of this past weekend. But just five weeks ago, her three dogs almost ended her life.
 
"All I did was get up and walk and I don't know where the dog was at, maybe he thought I was going after Alex and next thing I know, two steps and I went down," said Tammy Tucker.
 
Arthur Tucker says the next few minutes in the backyard were absolute chaos. Cops quickly arrived and shot two of the dogs, the SPCA taking the third. Tucker says his family wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary that day.
 
"We treated them like kids, like babies, never mean to them. They weren't raised to fight other dogs," said Arthur Tucker.
 
"Accidents will happen and so you have to be able to recognize and look at well this happened and reflect back on how it happened, what the circumstances were and change that keep that from happening again," said Katy Blanton.
 
Katy Blanton with Cincinnati Pit Crew says often times this happens with bad owners.

 She also argues it's not just a pit bull problem, but all breeds, especially in a home with multiple dogs.
 
"Any time you have a multi-dog household you have to be very attentive to their specific behaviors and personalities and make sure you're being attentive to those at all times," said Blanton.
 
A year and a half ago, Arthur Tucker says they had a smaller, aggressive incident with one of their dogs. He says they quickly went to a specialist in Indianapolis to find out if they were doing anything wrong.
 
"We were taught to let them know that we're in control and not them so he gave us some tips as far as giving a six foot lead on them," said Arthur Tucker.
 
After five surgeries, Tucker received a skin graft on her arm and leg. Still today she says she isn't against the breed.
 
"I'm a little more cautious now and I don't think I would have that many. I think even though they were pit mix, three was too many," said Tammy Tucker.
 
Tammy Tucker is going to make a full recovery.

But the family says if they get a pit bull in the future, they would make sure to only have one at a time.
 
Cincinnati City Council is looking into the need for code revisions due to a spike in violent dog attacks, specifically targeting pit bull owners who use their dogs as weapons.

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