An Arizona animal lover says he was attacked by a stray dog he had adopted, screaming for nearly 30 minutes and eventually losing his arm when it was “bitten out.”
Calista Muñoz, 25, has only just opened up about the July attack that left her in a coma for several days and required 18 surgeries, including the amputation of her right arm.
“I always say I danced with the devil and looked into the devil's eyes” Muñoz I told the AZ family.
The student was already caring for several other foster animals when she agreed to help Zona, a stray dog found by a friend. Zona didn't give her any problems for 3 months until she got into fights with her other dogs.
“He ran out of my room and was there. He had a cone, but without hesitation he jumped downstairs,” she recalled.
Munoz panicked and tried to drag Zona into the bathroom.
“I ended up getting trapped in there. And by the time I was able to grab the door, unfortunately this part of my arm had already been ripped off,” he said. she said, pointing to the part that ends in .
Munoz continued to scream for help for nearly 30 minutes until a neighbor called the police.
Still, “I knew I couldn't die like this,” she says.
She spent a month in the hospital, was in a coma for several days, and eventually had to have her dismembered arm amputated due to an infection.
The report did not specify the stray dog's breed or what happened to Zona after the attack.
“He was a really good dog, but he was abused and something was imprinted on him,” Munoz said.
Six months after the attack that changed his life, Muñoz said he still has days when he wonders, “Why can't I get my hands back?”
But she remains optimistic and won't let the experience slow her plans to pursue a master's degree in social justice at Arizona State University.
“There's no need to put your life on hold any longer just because something bad happens. There is beauty even in tragedy, and I believe my journey can be someone's survival guide.”
After the attack, friend CJ Norrick set up a GoFundMe page and raised nearly $10,000.
“Calista is a kind soul with a big smile and an even bigger heart,” Norick wrote in the fundraiser. “If she won her lottery, there would definitely be a telltale sign…because all the dogs and cats would be rescued from all the animal shelters. To say the least, this woman is a die-hard animal lover. It’s home.”
