Postal Worker Attacked By Dogs: 'I'm Terrified To Go Back'
DENVER (CBS4)- Wounds cover the body of a mail carrier who was viciously attacked by two dogs while delivering mail to a home in Denver.
"I'm terrified to go back, honestly." said Gloria Cruz. "I'm terrified, I'm so terrified to do that again. I was going to walk my kids to school this morning and now I'm just like, no, I don't want to do that."
The dogs pushed through a door while she was trying to deliver mail to a home on Monday near 34th Ave. and Utica in West Denver.
Cruz said she tried fighting them off but they were just kept coming at her.
"I tried to scoot back a little to grab my spray and as soon as I did that the first dog came and bit this arm," said Cruz. "At that point the second dog came up and started attacking me and from there they were just kind of dragging me throughout the lawn."
A neighbor saw what was happening and jumped in to help.
"The only thing I remember is her screaming and me on top of the dog," said neighbor Ron Spangle.
He said he saw Cruz on the ground and one of the dogs dragging her by her hair.
"I had my hands and fists blocking my face just so they wouldn't bite my fingers off or go at my face or neck," said Cruz. "I have bites on my hips, my arms and bumps and scratches on my head."
Some cuts were so deep the doctors couldn't stitch them shut because they're worried about infection.
Cruz is grateful to Spangle for helping her out.
"I just want to say thank you to everyone who was there to help me and for everyone's concerns and prayers that they've been saying for me so far," said Cruz.
She also has a word of caution to pet owners, "I just don't want this to happen to anybody so I just want everybody to be more careful with their animals. Just because they're good to you doesn't mean that they're going to be good to other people."
The two dogs are being kept at the Denver Animal Shelter. The owners did come out of their home to help Cruz when the dogs were attacking her. Cruz hasn't spoken with them since. She is not sure if she will take legal action against them.
The people who own the dogs did not respond to requests for comment from CBS4.
Cruz said she won't ever have to walk the route again when she returns to work. She had only been on the job for six weeks when she was attacked.
