‘She’d be dead’: Co-worker speaks out on veterinarian dog attack
HEPHZIBAH, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - It’s been almost two weeks since a Burke County veterinarian was mauled by a dog.
Dr. Emily Martin is still on her journey to recovery. She had co-workers with her that day and she credits them with saving her life as they watched the situation unfold.
“I couldn’t help her, " said Crystal Lesley. “I didn’t know how to help her. He was just attacking her with everything he had.”
Lesley works with Martin as the officer manager at Springwood Veterinary Clinic. She watched the attack happen.
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“It turned and grabbed her, pulled her to the ground, and drug her all the way over here,” said Lesley.
The dog dragged Martin for nearly seven feet.
“It just started mauling her,” said Lesley. “He didn’t bite her, he mauled her. He attacked her.”
Martin’s legs and arms have scars that will never go away.
“I pulled him off of her and he turned and looked at me, so I jumped on this picnic table,” said Lesley. “He’s walking and circling around the picnic table.”
The dog is not barking or growling.
“He is just daring anyone to come down,” she said.
The dog is currently under Burke County’s watch, while Martin can’t do her job right now.
“All she cared about was her patients at that time and making sure that in the future, anybody that was ever in pain, because she knew how much pain she was in, that no animal of hers will ever be in pain,” said Lesley.
That’s just the kind of doctor she is and she is lucky to be alive.
“She’d be dead,” said Lesley. “I think about it all the time. I’ve thought about that more than I’ve thought about anything.”
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