‘Once a dog tastes blood, that’s it:’ New details in Upstate mauling emerge

ABBEVILLE COUNTY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - The family of a woman who lost both her arms in a vicious dog attack faced the owner of the dogs in a court hearing on Thursday afternoon. An attorney for Justin Minor has asked for the case against him to be dismissed, but a judge sent the case to a grand jury for indictment.

Minor is facing charges for dangerous animals after Abbeville County deputies said three of his dogs mauled Kyleen Waltman, who was walking along Ball Road on Mar. 21.

Waltman has been hospitalized ever since the attack in which she lost both of her arms. She has undergone numerous surgeries and skin grafts.

During Thursday’s preliminary hearing, Abbeville County investigator Jeffery Hines said he visited Waltman in the ICU in the days following the attack.

“She had bites from her top of her head to the bottom of her feet, including her whole entire body,” he said. “It was one of the more gruesome animal attacks I’ve ever seen in my career.”

Hines said one of the dogs also tried to attack a man who got off his tractor to help Waltman. He fired a pistol he was carrying in the air to scare off the dogs and called 911.

Hines said when Minor got to the scene, he told investigators they could put the dogs down and said, “he wanted to put the dogs down after they killed his chickens, but his wife was against it.”

“Once a dog tastes blood, that’s it,” Hines recounted Minor telling deputies on scene.

Multiple dogs were freely roaming the property and none of them were vaccinated for rabies, Hines said.

Officials responded to a report of another dog attack on Minor’s property that happened on Christmas Eve, according to Hines. A neighbor also said he felt unsafe because of the dogs and would carry a stick outside.

Hines testified that the neighbor told deputies that Minor said, “those dogs will bite anyone.”

The judge said the state showed probable cause for the charges against Minor and said she is sending the charges to a grand jury for indictment.

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