Woman attacked by dogs hospitalized

A woman was hospitalized Thursday evening after being attacked by dogs.

"We just seen her five minutes before that, and golly man, all that stuff happened." The victim's brother-in-law, Carl Moss, said."

Michelle Slaughter had just left from visiting with her sister and brother-in-law around 4 p.m Thursday, when she was attacked by a group of dogs on her way home.

"Its heartbreaking emotions," Moss said. "I mean, I can't believe it happened to her."

Otis Arnold was on his way home from work, and stopped to help right after one of the dogs, a Belgian Milnois, was shot and killed by a neighbor who had stepped in.

"She was screaming that she thought the dogs were trying to tear her arm off," Arnold said.

It was only after the gunshot that the other four dogs, all German Shepherds, ran off.

"One of them had a 4x4, and they were trying to fight the dogs, and it still wasn't keeping them off." Arnold said.

Slaughter sustained serious injuries to the stomach and arms and was taken to a Durant hospital. She's expected to be okay.

"No one would've thought it wasn't safe to just walk down the road, that dogs would attack you," Arnold said. "Nobody deserves to be attacked by dogs."

Marshall County undersheriff Ed Kent says the dogs had gotten out while their owner, a local firefighter, was away helping fight the large wildfire to the north. He says the dogs were being trained to be search and rescue dogs, but he doesn't know if the training is certified.

The owner of the dogs says most of those dogs hadn't begun training yet, which range from security, to search and rescue, to narcotics and arson detection.

"Just hope she's going to be okay, and we're asking for prayers from everyone," Moss said. "We'd appreciate all the prayers."

Kent says the man who shot the dog will not be facing charges. The dogs' owner could be facing civil charges, however.