Woman mauled by dog she'd known since puppyhood faces years of surgery

A 20-year-old Scottish woman is facing years of reconstructive surrey after a dog she had known since it was a puppy suddenly attacked her, leaving her with devastating facial injuries. 

The owner of the Spanish Mastiff and Akita mix, Samantha Redding, from Falkirk, Scotland, was at her friend’s dad's home when the dog attacked her face. Although she had known the dog all her life and had never seen any signs of aggression, the attack came out of nowhere. 

Redding recalled: “I was only in the house for about 10 minutes. I went to pick up my bag and the dog latched on to my face. I can’t remember much except the dog growling and the pain.”

The Tesco employee had enough time to escape the house with a cloth over her wounded face. The young woman remembered using FaceTime to tell her parents what happened, and at first they thought she was just joking until they noticed her wounds. “My mum burst into tears when she saw me. My face looked like something from a horror movie,” she said. 

edding was moved to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow to receive treatment by specialists in maxillofacial surgery for her complicated wounds. Her doctors harvested her skin and veins from her arm and leg to recreate her face. 

She was admitted to the hospital for five weeks and has undergone four operations so far, with another scheduled for next week and at least two more to follow. 

With much pain, she said: “I wish the dog had killed me so I wouldn’t have to go through all the operations. I thought I would like a monster for the rest of my life.”She now suffers from PTSD and anxiety, experiencing flashbacks of the attack. The dog is in custody of police at a kennel in Dundee.