It was something straight out of a nightmare.
What began as a morning walk for Barbara Schmidt, 49, has ended up as a hospital stay of more than three days.Schmidt was dropped off as usual by her husband Thursday morning at the I-215 entrance near 2400 South and 2300 East. She walks the three miles back home to 2460 E. Melony Drive.
She loves animals and once owned German shepherds and Doberman pinschers. So when a stocky Rottweiler dog came along at about 7:45 a.m. near 2500 E. Lamborne Ave., she cheerfully told it to go away.
Schmidt had never heard of this breed of dog with short, dark hair. Instead of leaving, the Rottweiler attacked for no apparent reason.
German-bred Rottweilers generally weigh between 75 and 90 pounds and stand between 2 and 3 feet tall. They are excellent guard dogs and sometimes work as police dogs.
After the attack, Schmidt screamed. And seemingly out of nowhere, while the dog had hold of her leg, two more Rottweilers ran up and joined in. She suffered both hand and leg injuries in the attack.
"If they knock me down, they'll just kill me," she thought.
To support herself, she leaned against a nearby fence and tried to fend off the animals.
Schmidt said she has no idea how long the attack lasted, but it seemed like a lifetime before the owner heard her calls for help and called the dogs back. Residents who heard her screams called police and paramedics. Schmidt was hospitalized with muscle and tendon damage and was scheduled for minor reconstructive surgery to her hand Sunday in St. Mark's Hospital. Doctors have given her large doses of antibiotics.
Schmidt said her family requested that all three animals be destroyed, and one was. Salt Lake County Animal Control officials were unavailable for comment Saturday.
Will she ever go walking again? Probably, but "my husband says, `I think we'll get you a tread mill.' "