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A 32-year-old woman suffered fractures and multiple puncture wounds to both arms Saturday when a dog attacked her in Pahoa, the Hawaii Police Department said.
The attack occurred in the Ainaloa Estates subdivision at about 4:50 p.m.
Police said the woman was on her property with her dog on Bamboo Drive when a neighboring dog attacked her.
The woman’s mother, Helen Buelow, said she and her daughter, Amber Clausen, had just returned home after walking their dogs when the dog attacked Clausen.
The mother recalled screaming for someone to help her daughter. “I literally was screaming at the top of my lungs, ‘Somebody, anybody, please help me,’” Buelow said Monday during a phone interview from Hawaii island.
Buelow, 52, was also bitten on her forearm and shoulder, possibly by another dog, while trying to fend it off.
Police said the younger woman suffered fractures, multiple puncture wounds and lacerations to both arms.
According to Buelow, a man in a truck pulled up, placed her daughter in the bed of his truck and took her to the Pahoa Fire Station. Paramedics then took her to Hilo Medical Center where she underwent surgery for her injuries.
Clausen remains hospitalized in stable condition.
“She may not be able to use her left hand again. It’s down to the bone. She’s got nerve damage,” Buelow said.
The mother was also taken to the hospital, where she was treated for puncture wounds to her forearm.
Buelow said she doesn’t know the man who drove her daughter to the fire station. “I just call him my daughter’s guardian angel because if it wasn’t for him picking her up and putting her in the truck, she wouldn’t be here today,” she said.
Friends describe Clausen as a devoted animal caregiver who serves as a volunteer with the Hawaii Animal Kuleana Alliance. A GoFundMe account has been created at 808ne.ws/amberclausen to help with medical expenses.
Police said a bystander managed to secure the dog that attacked Clausen to a post until the county’s animal control officers took custody of it and transferred it to a secure location.
Police noted the dog came from a property that has a partially fenced yard.
“That dog has to be put down,” Buelow said.
Police said the dog’s owner, 51-year-old Frederick Kassebeer, turned himself in Sunday at the Pahoa Police Station. He was charged with permitting a dog to stray and negligent failure to control a dangerous dog. Kassebeer was released after posting $2,000 bail.
Police are continuing their investigation. Anyone with information on the dog attack is asked to call the Police Department’s nonemergency number at 808-935-3311.
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