CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- It took 500 stitches to put 24-year-old Amanda Mazza back together after a pit bull attacked her in the Wilmore neighborhood Friday afternoon.

“It bit into me all the way to the bone,” she said. “That dog was trying to kill me.”

Mazza said she was walking her dog, Bobbie, down Southwood Avenue as she usually does when suddenly the 60-pound pit bull came after her.

“I turned around and I could see the pit bull running towards me. I dropped my purse, picked up my dog,” she said.

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A woman who lives nearby said she had seen the pit bull tied up to a tree. It broke the leash and then attacked Mazza.

“It took another bite at me and I took another step,” she said. “It got me four or five times (before) I got to a porch.”

She was rushed to the hospital where her dad, Joe Mazza, said three surgeons worked for hours to stitch up her wounds.

“Her whole body -- just a big stitch. It's like someone took a chain to her,” he said.

Now that Mazza is home and on the mend, she said her biggest concern was keeping her dog safe.

“I didn't let him get one single bite. I love him too much,” she said.

Authorities said the dog that attacked Mazza has a history with Animal Control. They said last year it got loose and attacked another dog, and there have been numerous complaints about its barking.

The owner, Doris Harding, has been fined, but Animal Control officers are investigating the incident and they'll determine if a dangerous dog hearing is necessary. That's when they'll decide what will happen to the dog – whether it will be returned to its owner or destroyed.

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