A 77-year-old woman had her 57-year marriage ended recently — but it wasn’t because of a divorce. Tragically, the woman was bitten in the abdomen by her daughter’s pit bull, and the injury was severe enough that she died as a result.

The woman lived with her husband and daughter. It was the daughter’s dog, a 4-year-old pit bull, who attacked the woman and killed her. Apparently the 77-year-old was just trying to serve the dog its medication, which was wrapped in a piece of meat. Suddenly, it attacked, something that the pit bull was known to do though it had never attacked within the confines of the home.

It is believed that the woman’s medical condition and a surgical procedure she had done may have contributed to her death. She was taking blood thinners and her abdomen had been operated on in the past. Combined with these factors, the dog bite proved fatal.

This truly seems like an accident, as this was a family pet that attacked a family member. Still, given the animal’s history, the danger was always there. That’s often a tough realization for a dog owner to realize. You may think your dog is fine — “he would never do that, especially not in my house” — but the reality is that no one can say with 100 percent certainty that their dog won’t attack. They are animals with protective and defensive instincts. Sometimes those instincts may trigger at unexpected times and in unexpected ways, leading to unfortunate incidents like this.

Source: myfoxphoenix.com, “77-year-old woman bleeds to death after dog attack,” March 15, 2014