BELLEVILLE, Ill. — It was a terrifying time for 73-year-old Jerry Schlich.
"It was awful. The doctors said had this been a child, they would not have survived," said Kelli Schlich, Jerry's wife.
Kelli Schlich said just after four last Thursday afternoon her husband was walking their sons' dogs near West B. Street in West Belleville.
Jerry said out of the blue, a big, white and tan-colored dog, possibly an Akita-mix, first attacked their family's 8-year-old lab-mix, Hank, and then 3-year-old Bear.
"My husband said the dog was literally screaming. He said he thought Hank was going to die. Jerry went and started kicking and punching that big, aggressive dog to get him off Hank and then both of them got on him. Hank suffered some bite marks, but thankfully both of our dogs are okay," she said.
The two dogs had a 215-pound Jerry pinned on the ground.
The retired hospital worker suffered multiple bite marks on his legs, especially his right leg and hands.
"My husband suffered tears and serious punctures. His skin was ripped.," Kelli said.
His wife was at her business around the corner at the time.
"Luckily, he was able to get himself up and get himself and the dogs in the house. He texted me and then called me and told me what happened. I could not believe it," recalled Kelli.
As quickly as they attacked, the two dogs ran off.
St. Clair County Animal Control officers have been searching the area looking for the dogs that attacked Schlich.
Officers want to find them, take them to their center on South 11th Street and quarantine them.
By law, after a dog bite incident, they have 10 days to do that.
"Both of those dogs had collars on and both of them had tags. One of my neighbors told us they believe they saw those same two dogs earlier in an alley. They were bloody and it's believed they had possibly killed some kind of critter, and even after they attacked my husband, another neighbor said they thought they saw the same dogs," said Kelli Schlich.
One week later, Jerry Schlich started a series of painful rabies shots and remains in the hospital.
"I hope that the owners see this and come forward because then we would know if those dogs have had their vaccinations or not. If they have, then we can stop the rabies shots. My husband is very lucky because had they gotten his throat he'd be gone," said Kelli Schlich.
Animal control officers want to remind owners that to ensure the safety of the public, state law requires that you keep your dogs up to date on their vaccinations.
St. Clair County also has a leash law for dogs.
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