Quick action saves wife

The husband of a woman attacked by dogs at a Linda home last week was the lone rescuer of his wife, according to the Yuba County Sheriff's Department.

Originally, the Sheriff's Department said the dogs' owners saved Gail Barngrover of East Linda from the fierce attack Friday. But Undersheriff Steve Durfor on Tuesday credited the rescue to Ed Barngrover.

As many as 10 dogs attacked Gail Barngrover, 63, during a visit to the home of a friend on the 1000 block of North Beale Road, according her husband, who saw the attack from his truck.

The Sheriff's Department confirmed at least three dogs were involved in the attack.

“If I hadn't been there, she'd be dead,” Ed Barngrover said Tuesday before visiting his wife at Rideout Memorial Hospital in Marysville. He hoped to take her home today, he said.

Gail Barngrover is in stable condition, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Ed Barngrover said he still doesn't know what caused the dogs to attack because his wife has been around the dogs before and never had a problem.

When the Barngrovers arrived at the fenced-in residence before 2 p.m., he said, someone let his wife in through a gate before leaving.

She walked to the residence across a large yard and knocked on the door, he said, but no one was home.

About halfway back to the truck, one of the rottwieler-chow mix dogs knocked his wife to the ground, Ed Barngrover said, and the other dogs joined the attack.

He ran from his truck, jumped the fence, pulled and kicked the dogs away from his wife and pulled her to safety. He called for help on a cell phone, he said.

According to Durfor, Barngrover suffered bites and lacerations to her head, right arm, legs and buttock area.

The dogs were secured and taken to the Yuba County Animal Services office, Durfor said. An investigation into the attack is still continuing, he said. The dogs' fates will await the completion of the investigation.

A Yuba County judge could order the dogs to be euthanized if they are deemed vicious and dangerous, he said.

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