Cris Martinez’s Catahoula Leopard dog, Bryzzo. The dog was not involved in the dog bite incident, and because Bryzzo is deaf, special hand signals are needed to put her through her routine.

Galva resident Cris Martinez is preparing for a year or more of reconstructive surgeries after suffering facial injuries to her nose, lower eyelid and lip. The wounds were caused by multiple bites from her own dogs as she attempted to intervene in a fight between them.

The two females, a breed known as Catahoula Leopard dogs, were both rescued from an agency in Tennessee several years ago. Such dogs are used as hunters and retrievers and are often used as herding dogs.

According to Martinez, the smaller one, called Summer, is deaf, a condition that can occur due to breeding irregularities.

“It’s one of the reasons I wanted to bring her home, as she had been abandoned due to their handicap,” she said.

The larger of the pair involved in the fight, Remy, is usually kept separate from other pets. A third dog of the same breed, Bryzzo, was not involved in the skirmish and is also deaf.

She said that normally she kept the two smaller dogs, Summer and Bryzzo, together and away from Remy, and those two got along well.

The morning of the fight, her son had accidentally left one of the doors open, and Remy escaped into the living room, where Summer was playing with her toys. Martinez was on the sofa, reading, when the fight began. She said that, initially, she was able to separate the dogs and called to her son to help keep them apart.

“I was wearing socks, and I have wooden flooring,” said Martinez. “I simply lost my balance and slid right under them as they were biting each other.”

She went on to say that she was only between them for a few seconds, but enough to experience significant injuries to her face.
In the frenzy, her nose was nearly bitten off, and she suffered other facial injuries.

“I need people to know that the dogs did not attack me. They never would do that. This was totally an accident,” Martinez said.

She was taken by ambulance to OSF St. Francis in Peoria and was there less than 24 hours before she was sent to Northwestern Medical Center in Chicago.

“The biggest concern at first was infection,” she said. “I underwent several different cleansing procedures and was given large doses of antibiotics.” She added that the wounds did not become infected, and credits both hospitals for their thorough treatment.

Cris Martinez with visible injuries, most apparent are the ones to her nose and left lower eyelid. She will need to undergo several reconstruction surgeries over the next 12 months. [Photo by Diana Whitney]

One of the surgeries she is facing involves removing a section of forehead skin and transplanting it onto her nose. She will need procedures to fix an area under her left eyelid and on her lower lip. The various surgeries will take up to 12 months to complete. However, surgeries are not all she is facing.

Recently, her medical insurance was cancelled without notice, and her unemployment has ended from her job at a local pharmacy that closed last fall. As a pharmacy tech, she said she is aware that there may be jobs available, but she will need so much time off for medical care that employment prospects are few right now.

The 55-year-old mother of four has other health issues as well. She is under the care of a rheumatologist but can’t continue that treatment until her health insurance issue is resolved. That, and the impending facial surgeries, are on hold for the moment because of the costs.

If things couldn’t possibly get worse, her home is facing foreclosure, and she is struggling to find another place to live.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt so low before,” she said. “I have no idea what the future holds.”

Her oldest son is staying with her now, but he works long hours, so she is alone much of the time.

“I know people think the dogs should be put down, but it was not their fault,” she said. “Human error is to blame here. We’ve had these dogs for a long time, and this has never happened before.”

The dogs are well-trained, she said, and she uses special techniques to deal with their hearing loss. Special hand signals are used, and they are taught common tricks such as rolling over, sitting still, shaking hands, and lying down on command.

“We’ve worked with them since we brought them home,” she said. “They are well behaved.”

For now, she is hoping that friends and family would start something like a GoFundMe campaign to help her with medical and travel costs.

“Right now, I need some help,” she said. “I have a lot of things to fix in my life.”