Eunice Floyd had stitches removed Monday from bites she received when trying to protect her pet cat from a pit bull on March 18.

“Horrible, horrible” was the way Floyd described the incident that left her companion cat of 10 years dead and her cut, broken and bruised.

Three earlier incidents were reason for Floyd to fear for the safety of her two pet cats but she never envisioned anything as “horrible” as what occurred that midmorning of spring.

Twice she had talked to the university students who live across the street about the dogs in their care. The third time, animal control was called.

“I’d always watch for that pit bull because I was afraid of it,” Floyd said. “But on that Friday, I was getting something out of the vehicle and, I don’t know where the dog came from but it was after my cat, PeeWee, that was on the patio. I started hollering and screaming at him but he just kept chasing my cat.”

The cat jumped on the patio wall but Floyd said the dog “jumped up and snatched PeeWee down by the legs.”

The cat then “ran up against” Floyd and the dog lunged at the cat, knocking Floyd facedown onto the concrete patio.

“I went down full blast on my face and I thought that I was going to pass out,” Floyd said. “Blood started going everywhere but I had to get the dog away from my cat.”

She gave chase into the back yard and, actually, got to the cat and grabbed it up in her arms.

“But the dog jumped on me and knocked me down again,” she said. “He grabbed PeeWee in his mouth and shook her and shook her. She looked like a big ball of fur being slung around and around. I couldn’t get her away.”

When the dog dropped Floyd’s longtime companion, she was dead.

“I ran and got PeeWee and put her in the shed out back so he couldn’t tear her to pieces,” Floyd said. “I locked the gate so the dog couldn’t get out and called 911. I was crying and kept telling them I needed help. And, everybody came within five minutes – the police, the fire department, the ambulance and animal control. And, I appreciate so much all that they did to help me on that horrible, horrible day.”

Floyd had cuts and abrasions on her face, a broken finger on her left hand and cuts from where she was snagged by the dog’s teeth as he charged after the cat.

“The last time I saw the dog, the boy that owns him was going back across the street with him on a leash,” she said. “He said he couldn’t control the dog. He later talked with his dad and they decided to have the dog put down.”

Floyd said what she has suffered could have been prevented if people complied with the city of Troy’s leash law. “I think we have something like that.”

“If you are going to have animals, you need to be responsible,” she said. “And, these people who rent houses to college students should not allow animals because students are busy and don’t have time to look after them.”

Floyd said the responsibility of pet ownership is not something that should be taken lightly and anyone should think twice before accepting that responsibility.

“What I would say to college students is that, when you come to college, leave the animals at home,” she said. “Having a pet is lot of responsibility. I accepted that responsibility. Everybody else should, too. I don’t want anybody else to have to go through something like this.”