Let's Support Scotty!

 SUMMARY

Last week, Scott and his wife Linda were both attacked by one of their Pitbull dogs who, after being a loving pet for over 6 years, snapped. Both of Scott’s arms were severely mauled and deformed to the point of needing, so far, four surgeries to try to stop the aggressive spread of infection. He will continue to need more surgeries, for both reconstruction and the application of multiple skin grafts. Linda, fortunately, was only bitten once on the back of her thigh and didn’t need to be admitted to the hospital, but the bite was still very large. She is staying by Scott’s side in the hospital 24/7.

As you can imagine, the medical costs for his hospital stay/surgeries, along with not being able to go back to work full-time for months, will create a very real financial hardship. On behalf of Scott's extended friends & family, we want to support him and Linda as much as we can. Anyone who knows Scott and Linda knows they’d do the same for any of us.

Please consider donating any amount you feel comfortable with, and in the case that you're not in the position to give financial support, please leave a message below (Please do not call or text) and let them know you care. Simply keeping Scotty in your thoughts & prayers will most certainly be welcomed and appreciated.

 UPDATE

Scott is currently on multiple pain killers and not sleeping for long lengths of time due the severe pain, not only from the attack, but also the 4 surgeries that removed dead muscle and skin.

They are asking to please not call or text while they are in the hospital dealing with this horrible situation. Every time Scott tells the story of what happened, he feels like he’s reliving the attack.

 FULL STORY

Scott and Linda gave their permission to detail the attack and attach photos in the hopes that when you do talk to him or see him in the near future, he won’t have to describe the trauma he’s already gone through. He truly loved his pet, and it is heart-wrenching for him to deal with not only the wounds, but also the loss of a companion. 

          BACKGROUND

Scott and Linda had 3 Dogs: Duncan, Andy & Lucky. Duncan was the Pitbull that attacked them both last week. He was a rescue, but they don’t know if he was mistreated before they took him in, over 6 years ago. They had Andy since he was a puppy and never had an issue with him. 4 Months ago, Scott found Lucky on the side of a road near their home with multiple puncture wounds, starving and with his bones showing through his skin. They took him to the vet and had him cared for before bringing him home. Lucky was very loving and got along with the other 2 dogs, but there was definitely jealousy between Lucky and Duncan. Looking back, Scott and Linda now think bringing Lucky into the house, paired with the onset of blindness in Duncan's eyes, might have changed the dynamic and, ultimately, caused this attack. The more I read up on pets attacking their owners, it's often an unknown medical condition that causes the dog pain, which in turn facilitates the attack. Either way, Scott wants everyone to know that Duncan was truly loved and he is in absolute shock that this happened. 



         THE ATTACK 

On Wednesday night last week, Linda was letting the dogs out and Lucky ran into her, pushing her into the door jam. As she was reprimanding him, Duncan came up behind her and bit her on the back of the thigh causing her to let out a scream. Scott came running into the garage, yelled at Duncan to get out of the garage and closed the door after he was outside. Andy was still in the house. Scott took Linda into the house and bandaged her up. They both went back into the garage with Linda in the lead. She opened the side door and they both walked out and saw Duncan running towards them and Scott, afraid Duncan was coming after Linda, stepped in front of her. Duncan then went airborne and lunged directly at him. Scott put up his arm to prevent the dog from attacking his throat. That is when Duncan grabbed onto his right arm and started biting and thrashing back and forth. They both started screaming to get Duncan to stop and he didn’t. Linda then ran back in the garage and grabbed Scott’s kayak paddle to use it to pull Duncan off, but he held on. Scott was trying everything stop the attack, like prying his mouth open & jamming fingers in his eyes, but Duncan still would not stop attacking.

The next-door neighbor heard them screaming, and first thought they were just fighting, but then quickly realized it was Scott being attacked. It was dark and the neighbor thought it was a bear attack, so he went running back into his house to grab his gun. When Linda wasn't able to get Duncan off with the paddle, she called 911 and was screaming for help. The neighbor came back with the gun and then realized it was their pet dog and didn’t want to shoot him. Linda and Scott start yelling “just shoot him, just shoot him,”  while the 911 operator was listening and starting to ask “who are you going to shoot?” Linda then replied by saying "Duncan, Duncan," but the operator didn't know Duncan was a dog. Scott was still on the ground, Duncan was still on top of Scott, and still very much attacking his right arm. The neighbor shot Duncan in the back leg because he didn’t want to accidentally shoot Scott. The dog let go of the right arm for only for a few seconds and then attacked again. Scott is a righty, so he put up his left arm so he could better fight him off. Only this time, the dog had the inside of his left forearm and was biting even harder than before, and Scott could feel him getting down to the bone. The dog also started dragging Scott towards the back yard. This happened really fast. The neighbor then shot the dog again in the back of the leg, which forced the dog  to finally let go and back off.

They dragged Scott into the garage, and as Linda was closing the door, Duncan tried to get in, so she slammed the door on his head, shutting him outside. They then tried to stop the bleeding. The 911 operator, hearing all this, has the police and ambulance there in minutes. When the police showed up, Linda at first was scared to let them in, thinking Duncan would get back in, but then opened the door without any further problems. Scott’s left forearm was bitten off, and the arm has one other huge bite wound. His right arm has deep bite wounds to the forearm and inside bicep. His right hand also has puncture wounds. There are pictures below, but they are very graphic and you can’t un-see them.

PHOTOS

( WARNING - EXTREMELY GRAPHIC: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1JTp-WB98IEK5aEAphNvcJBKF_oGLHdaq )

THANK YOU

Scott is still in the trauma ward at Cedar Crest Lehigh Valley Hospital and has more surgeries scheduled.

Thank you to all who show support in one form or another... Together we can help Scott get back to his family, back to work, and back into all of our lives!

All proceeds from this GoFundMe will go directly to Linda & Scott.

“Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much”
– Helen Keller.