ANDOVER, Kan. (KAKE) – An Andover woman is recovering after being mauled by two dogs while walking alone along the Redbud Trail. One local small business is now rallying to help her recovery.
JoAnn Ragatz has been walking down the same path at Redbud Trail for years, usually with her two pooches and husband. But on November 23, she was alone. She explains in a Facebook post her violent encounter with two bull mastiffs that led to serious injuries on her right bicep, left tricep, one of her hands, and her face.
JoAnn with her puppies
One part of her Facebook post said, “one of them [the dogs] ran at me and ran at me hard. He grabbed my right bicep and would not let go. Then, he began to shake it. I screamed. It was unreal – I could not believe this was happening to me. Then, one bit my hand and bit it hard and pulled and shook. After that one of them slammed into me from behind, I landed hard on my knees, scrambling to get up as one of the monsters bit and tore a chunk out of my left tricep. His grip was not complete thanks to my arm band that held my phone. As this attack continued, I screamed and screamed, ‘Please help me! Somebody please help me!’ My mind raced with the thought that I am going to die here if someone doesn’t help me. This is my only chance. Please help me.”
Another part of the story JoAnn outlined on Facebook, “The dog owner told the sheriff that his wife let his dogs out while she took her shower. I will think about this when I have to go to the salon to have my hair shampooed or I have to bag up my injuries so they don’t get wet now that I have to take a bath and can’t take a shower.
“We feel for them. Any time something bad happens in our little community of Andover, we all step up,” said Scotty Sexton, owner of Andover Dog Training Center.
Sexton is one of JoAnn’s neighbors. He heard about her recent incident and decided he had to do something to help.
“We’re going to start it and backdate it back to the first of the month to the end of the month- I’m going to take 10% of gross profits, not net profits, but gross profits- 10% of everything we make here and give to the family,” said Sexton.
Sexton is a veteran with a passion for dogs and helping people, that’s why he thought this was important to do. He says no matter what his businesses’ profits are for the month he’s personally pledged a donation of $1,000 to aid JoAnn’s family.
“It was terrifying to hear that you’re just out for a normal everyday walk, and you’re just gonna get mauled by a dog. It was a horrible thing to hear,” said Sexton.
Andover Dog Training Center is also planning to put together a free first aid class for pet owners so they know what to do in an emergency situation, like if JoAnn had her puppies with her during the attack.
The deputy on scene of the dog attack tells KAKE News the two mastiffs had a history of violence, as there were at least two prior incidents reported. A neighbor said one of the dogs got on their property and killed their cat in 2021.
The two dogs were euthanized soon after the incident. One of the dogs was not up to date on its rabies vaccination, leading to a long road to recovery and a series of painful rabies vaccinations for JoAnn.
Blood work of both dogs was sent off to the health department.
JoAnn is lucky to be alive and says she was nearly killed. She now wants to spread awareness about this and encourage others to always lease their dogs.
She says her biggest concerns were if she’d keep her arm, which she will, and if she’d be able to see the birth of her grandchild, which she did. Her newest family member, Devin Ragatz, was born Tuesday.
JoAnn
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