Pit Bull Attack Injures Woman, Dog

CANOGA PARK â€”  Sofia Shafit, a 59-year-old block captain of her Neighborhood Watch program, expects her husband back from the Navy this weekend, but just wait until she tries to explain why the diamond is missing from her wedding ring.

A pit bull terrier ripped the precious stone from her finger and then swallowed it Thursday as she tried to break up a vicious fight between the dog and her 17-year-old half-husky, Puffy.

Puffy, by the way, lost the fight, but is recovering. Shafit ended up with 32 stitches on two fingers. The pit bull and its owner were still at large. Shafit wants them found.

“I’m going to sue the guy,� she said, pacing in her living room after returning from the hospital. “Who’s going to pay for my ring?�

The attack occurred about 10 a.m., as Shafit was on her morning walk with three children from the apartment complex she manages. But just as Shafit, the children and Puffy began crossing Lanark Park they heard a horrible growl.

Then they saw the pit bull, unleashed by an unidentified man, bounding toward them.

But it was too late.

The pit bull had its eyes on Puffy.

“There couldn’t be a more harmless dog,� neighbor Michael Dellinger said of Puffy. “A poodle is more threatening.�

Puffy is also Shafit’s only companion while her husband is away working as a radio operator in the military--and the dog was in grave danger.

“I had to do something,� Shafit said. “What if he killed Puffy?�

In a few fierce seconds the pit bull sank its teeth into Puffy’s head, legs and back.

Puffy was losing.

He needed help.

Shafit tried to unlock the pit bull’s teeth from Puffy’s body, but the pit bull bit Shafit’s hands instead--ripping off two rings. It swallowed the first, worth $150, and gulped the diamond off the second one, a wedding ring worth $600.

By the time Shafit broke the dogs apart, her hand was bleeding and Puffy was on the grass, wounded.

Police showed up but the pit bull and its owner were nowhere to be found. Dellinger took Shafit to a hospital where she got 26 stitches on her left pinky and six on her right index finger.

Puffy’s legs still shook several hours after the attack and it took him a couple of minutes to climb the stairs to Shafit’s second-floor apartment. Slowly, Puffy walked inside, gave a loud bark and made himself comfortable under the kitchen table, laying his head on the linoleum--apparently too tired to lick his wounds.

“Puffy’s like my child,� Shafit said. “He’s the only thing I have.�