Friday, June 18, 1999
Girl honored for tackling attacking dog
Swift action saved her friend
BY SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
When Shelly Kerstanski saw her Rottweiler tearing after her best friend, there was just one thing to do: dive on the dog.
The 13-year-old Clearcreek Township girl jumped on the back of 150-pound Pee-Wee, who had sunk his teeth into her friend's left arm.
“She literally picked him up off her,” said mom Tina Kerstanski, still shaken by the May 3 incident.
Without hesitating, Shelly wrapped one arm around the dog's neck and the other over his shoulder.
In the struggle, Shelly didn't feel Pee-Wee's teeth graze her skin inside the elbow.
With blood dripping from her arm, Shelly pinned Pee-Wee to the ground while her mom led friend Lauren Steele and Lauren's younger sister to safety.
Only then did Shelly get off the dog.
“Mom, I couldn't let him go until the girls were safe,” she told Tina Kerstanski once inside the house.
It's been more than a month since the attack but the scars have not gone away on the girls' arms. Nor have Shelly's accolades. For her courage, the Clearcreek Township trustees and the Warren County commissioners honored her Thursday night with proclamations at the township hall. She also was presented a voucher for a free puppy or kitten.
“We've never had a little girl do this type of heroism,” Rodney Brown, Warren County's dog warden, said before the ceremony. In fact, in his 20 years with the dog warden's office, he's never seen anyone dive on a dog to save someone's life.
“They're usually trying to get away or they try to hit the dog on the head with a club or something,” Mr. Brown said. “Sometimes if they get a chance, they'll shoot them.”
Mr. Brown recommends spraying an attacking dog with a garden hose.
“But in a situation that's
happening so fast, you don't know how to react,” he said.
One minute Shelly, Lauren and Lauren's 6-year-old sister were gathering sticks for a bonfire in Shelly's back yard.
The next minute, Pee-Wee was charging Lauren.
“I heard her screaming and I turned to look,” Shelly said Thursday. Lauren was running from Pee-Wee, who bit her, causing Lauren to fall.
Without considering that she could be hurt, Shelly, a four-sport athlete, lunged at her dog.
“I was just worried about getting him off of her,” Shelly said. “I was looking for his collar, and was like, "Whoa, it's not here.'”
Pee-Wee had broken his 2-inch collar and chain before galloping after Lauren.
Though 12-year-old Lauren said she was warned to stay away from the dog, his owners say 10-month-old Pee-Wee never showed any signs of aggression since they bought him from friends 7 weeks after he was born.
In fact, most Rottweilers are obedient and not prone to bite, Mr. Brown said. They make up only 5 percent of the 100 dog bites each year in Warren County.
“Nowhere in our minds did we ever think this would ever happen,” Mrs. Kerstanski said. Pee-Wee was taken away that night by Mr. Brown's deputies and later destroyed.
“I hated like everything to put that dog to sleep,” Mrs. Kerstanski said. “He was my baby. But rationally, I could not see bringing him back to the house. My husband and I said to ourselves there is no way we could live comfortably knowing what our dog did to a child.”
Lauren required about 100 stitches in her arm and says she's still afraid of dogs.
Her mother is grateful Pee-Wee did not cause more damage.
“Thank God, Shelly was there,” Mindy Steele said. “If she wouldn't have been there, it could have been a heck of a lot worse.”
Asked if she wants another dog, Shelly laughed hesitantly and shrugged.
“I don't know. Not a big one.”
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