Pollock woman critical after mauling by stray dogs

Randy Cheveallier said the trauma surgeon treating his 85-year-old mother said her wounds are the worst he's seen.

"She's not doing well, but she's doing well considering the circumstances," Randy Cheveallier told The Town Talk on Friday. "It's just a long row to hoe."

Bobbie Cheveallier was attacked Wednesday afternoon by two or three stray dogs after she took some trash to burn outside at her home on La. Highway 8, just outside Pollock. As of Friday afternoon, she was listed in critical condition, said a Rapides Regional Medical Center spokesperson.

Her son, who lives in the Prospect area, said nobody knows exactly what happened.

What they do know is that the boyfriend of a neighbor noticed three dogs as he was preparing to work on a project outside. Thinking it odd, the man walked over to investigate and found an unconscious "Miss Bobbie," according to Randy Cheveallier. He yelled for his girlfriend to call 911, and the pair stayed with the woman until she was taken to Rapides Regional Medical Center by ambulance.

"It just devastated her," Randy Cheveallier said of the neighbor. "She's just been such an angel to momma since she moved there."

It's not known what type of dogs attacked Bobbie Cheveallier, but her son said the eyewitness told him two of the dogs appeared to be "wolf-life," or looked something like German Shepherds, Chow Chows or some type of Chow mix. While the eyewitness reported seeing three dogs, a release reported two dogs responsible for the attack.

On Friday, the Grant Parish Sheriff's Office continued a search for the dogs. Sheriff Steve McCain said 14 stray dogs were captured on Thursday and were taken to an Alexandria veterinarian so that DNA samples could be taken. Traps also have been set in the area, he said.

McCain had issued a press release Wednesday evening about the attack, advising people to be mindful of stray dogs and to be cautious before letting children play outside. McCain said residents should continue to be vigilant "until we can be sure that there's not a threat anymore."

The sheriff said an attack like this never has been reported to his office.

Randy Cheveallier said he's been in touch with McCain and with the detective heading the investigation. Meanwhile, the family, including another son from Shreveport and a granddaughter from Texas, continues to keep a vigil at the hospital.

When the surgeon told them that Bobbie Cheveallier's legs would have to be amputated above the knees, family members were upset. But Randy Cheveallier said they also understood that it had to be done to save her. He said he believes his mother would have died outside her home from blood loss if the attacking dogs hadn't been noticed.

Randy Cheveallier said the attack left the woman without skin on most of her legs, and that most of the tissues and muscles had been mutilated.

But he said his mother's vital signs were improving and that she was scheduled to see a kidney specialist later on Friday. A diabetic, Bobbie Cheveallier already has undergone the amputation surgery and another surgery to stop excessive bleeding from where her right leg was amputated. Doctors have said she faces more procedures.

He had praise for the nursing staff at Rapides, and chuckled while saying that the family may adopt her doctor. "The medical staff here have been excellent," he said.

He said they've had many visitors and callers, some of whom were among the many kids his mother babysat throughout the years and who now are scattered across the country. One call came from a woman in California, he said.

Charles Kendrew grew up in Pollock and went to school with the Cheveallier children. "A terrible tragedy," said Kendrew, who now lives near Atlanta, Georgia.

"It was very tough to hear that last night because I just think the world of her."

Follow Melissa Gregory on Twitter: @MGreg_TownTalk.