DANVERS — While it was happening, Cassandra Osgood, 23, thought she was going to die.
The pit bull that attacked her on Thursday, April 9, at a Peabody mobile home inflicted more than 50 wounds, even biting to the bone, tearing away skin, muscle and fat. At one point, the savage attack left her to shelter alone behind a glass door, lying in a pool of her own blood while the dog scratched at the glass trying to get at her.
Even so, Osgood said, "I feel bad for everyone in the situation." That includes the dog's owner, Brian Stevens, 27; the dog's other victims, like Sarah Malave, 24, and even Bronson, the dog himself. "He's practically on death row. ... I'm an animal lover."
The attack followed a moment of high spirits, she said, where Osgood momentarily wrestled with Malave. The two women fell back on the couch, Osgood said, when the dog sprang, perhaps meaning to protect Jamie Brickman, 27, girlfriend of the absent Stevens.
Before that, there was no warning.
"The dog was happy," Osgood said. "It was wagging its tail."
It had been the same on previous visits. "I never saw any aggression. But he's a pit bull. Pit bulls can snap at the drop of a dime."
The other two women in the room tried frantically to stop the attack, with Brickman also sustaining injuries.
"They threw water on him. ... They tried putting a wire on him to pull him off me." The assault continued. "The length of time he was biting me felt like forever. ... He bit through my sneaker." He tore at her arm, opening her flesh to the bone.
"He dragged me around the house like a rag doll."
When, for some reason, the attack stopped, Malave urged Osgood, "Run! Into the other room!" The pair fled, but the door couldn't be secured, Osgood said, and the dog began slamming against it. Malave couldn't hold it shut, and the animal finally forced his way in.
"He jumped on her," Osgood said. "But there was nothing I could do." She staggered to another room, a computer station with a sliding glass door, and she lay there holding the door shut with her foot. Before long, the pit bull was at the glass, relentless, like some creature from a horror movie, trying to force his way in, she said.
"He was jumping up on the door," Osgood said. "I could hear them outside going, 'Cassandra is still in there!' ... It was so long to get me out."
Police had arrived by then. Patrolman William Swaczyk had rescued Malave — with help from Patrolmen Mark Bettencourt, Tony Santos, Leo Cunha and Lt. John McCorry. In the process, Swaczyk was attacked by the dog, who locked his jaws on the officer's arm.
With the dog still roaming the home, rescuers had to take Osgood out through a small window. "I was screaming," she said, remembering the pain. "I was thinking of my baby." Her son, Joshua, is 11 months old. "I was thinking, 'What if my son had been there?' Thank God my son was not with me. If he was with me ... it's a fact if that dog had got hold of a baby that baby would not survive."
Another bit of good luck, the attack spared her face. She theorizes that her arms fared so poorly because she was protecting her face.
Paramedics urged, "Stay with us, Cassandra. Stay with us." She watched them push the muscle and flesh back into her arm before sewing it up to protect against infection. She thought she might lose it.
When she was airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital, the staff cut her clothes off her. Doctors told boyfriend Kurt Mason that he might not want to see her given the extent of her wounds. "I can handle it," he said.
Returning home on Tuesday, she's on a strong regimen of painkillers. She's lost some feeling in her foot and hopes the doctors are right that it will return.
"When I got home and looked in the mirror, looking in a full-body mirror, that's when it hit me. ... I'm going to need plastic surgery." She mused quietly that she would have to approach the upcoming summer season with emphasis on short sleeves carefully. "It's very hard to look at myself. ... The scars I'm going to have are terrible."
Bandaged now, she said, "I look like a mummy."
Yet, that's only a minor concern. "The important thing is not being able to pick up my son."
The fate of the animal remains in doubt. Borash Veterinary Clinic in Peabody, where Bronson is currently kenneled, declined to comment. Animal Control Officer Lilian Pinto also declined to comment.
Police Capt. Dennis Bonaiuto said he was unclear on the procedure for dealing with a dog that's attacked a person, and no hearing has been scheduled.
"There are ongoing talks with the owner's attorney," he said. "We're working through the process."
An only child, Osgood's father disappeared long ago and she is relying on her mother along with Mason — "He has to do everything." — and Mass Health — "A nurse comes every other day." She had been due to start a new job at Zales the day before the attack. A lawyer friend has offered help, but Osgood isn't certain what the lawyer can do about this.
"I'm a strong woman," she said. "I'm a little too brave. I don't fear things." She pauses. "It's going to be different for me now."
Staff writer Bruno Matarazzo Jr. contributed to this article.
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