Dog owners pay attention, if your dog attacks someone or has a propensity for damaging property, you will be held liable under Wisconsin law. Recently, a German wirehaired pointer attacked two Adell, Wisconsin women in their home December 22, 2011.

Emergency responders transported a 23-year-old woman and a 42-year-old woman to a local hospital for treatment following the animal attack. Medical authorities expect the 42-year-old woman to need reconstructive surgery to repair damage the dog did to her face.

According to a spokesperson for the Sheboygan County Sheriff's Department, the dog, a longtime family pet, initially attacked the younger woman. The woman had dog bites on her face, neck and arm. The older woman, who is the younger woman's mother, saw the attack and tried to pull the dog off her daughter.

The dog then turned on the 42-year-old woman and bit a large chunk out of her face, removing a significant section of skin from her cheek, the sheriff's department spokesperson says.

The attack was so vicious, emergency responders initially called for a helicopter to transport the women to a hospital. However, the Flight for Life was eventually cancelled, and both women were transported by ambulance to Columbia St. Mary's Hospital Ozaukee.

According to the sheriff's department spokesperson, the women did not know why the dog suddenly attacked the 23-year-old woman. However, the family allegedly told investigators the young woman had just moved back into her mother's home, and the dog did not know her well.

A local veterinary office is holding the dog in quarantine until experts can be certain that he does not have rabies. The owners have requested that the animal be euthanized once the quarantine period is completed.

Source: The Sheboygan Press, "Women seriously injured by dog in Adell," Sheboygan Press Staff, Dec. 22, 2011.