By Tim Binnall
A California woman says that she and her dog were attacked by a pack of poodles that pounced upon the pair and, as the fracas unfolded, the owner of the animals wound up also biting her! According to a local media report, the very weird incident occurred in late October as Kathrin Burleson and her pet corgi, Emma, were out for a walk at Trinidad State Beach. Their visit took an ugly turn when ten poodles suddenly poured out of a nearby car and headed their way. While a nervous Burleson managed to scoop Emma up before they arrived, that was all she was able to do before the animals struck. "They jumped us," she recalled, "we were at the bottom of a pack of 10 snarling, biting dogs."
Fearing that they might get killed by the crazed canines, Burleson covered Emma with her body as the diminutive dogs continued their attack. Amazingly, rather than calm the creatures down, she says that the owner of the poodles actually began chomping down on her finger instead. "It was one of the most bizarre experiences of my life," she said of the moment when she realized that "it was a person who was biting me." Though the man stopped when she screamed at him, Burleson and Emma remained the target of the poodle pack until an unidentified woman joined the fray and pulled the animal out of the poodle pile.
"It was a miracle," Burleson marveled, "as she lifted Emma up, the dogs were jumping and tearing at her flesh and fur." The unfortunate animal ultimately needed emergency surgery to tend to the many wounds that she received during the attack. No doubt due to Emma's injuries needing immediate attention as well as the pugnacious nature of the poodle pack, Burleson apparently did not call the police after the nightmarish encounter occurred. That said, they may eventually be enlisted to deal with the matter as area residents say that this is not the first time this group of animals have shown such aggression. For now, Burleson is simply warning the community to be on guard if they "see a car crammed with fuzzy poodle faces."