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Local Woman On The Mend After Vicious Dog Attack

BEVERLY HILLS (CBSLA.com) — A Lake Los Angeles woman who was viciously attacked by her dog in December is recovering with the help of a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who operated on her free of charge.

Deneene Callaway was leaning down to fix a tire when her 2-year-old pit bull mix Jack attacked her, tearing her nose off of her face.

"It's like a truck hitting you," said Callaway.

"And he would have killed me. He was coming back to kill me," she said.

"I couldn't run fast enough to get over there," said her husband, Gary Bogdanoff. "It was heart wrenching."

Her husband rushed her to the hospital, where Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Zain Kadri was called in to reconstruct Callaway's skin, muscle and bones.

Dr. Kadri, a specialist in facial reconstruction, said it was the worst dog bite he had ever seen.

He performed the surgery pro bono because Callaway and her husband are on a fixed income.

Callaway will undergo two more surgeries, to remove scar tissue and to repair a scar on her face.

An animal lover, Callaway said it is still painful to look at the pictures of Jack, who was put down the day of the attack. She still owns Jack's brother, Bart.

"I can't believe it, the dog I loved and raised and protected, bit me," she said.

Looking back, Callaway said there were warning signs; Jack bit her husband on his hands more than once.

"If they show any aggression," she said. "Get them trained or get rid of them."

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