NEWTON TWP, Ohio - A Newton Falls woman told investigators that she bit the ear of a pit bull that was attacking her pet pomeranian.

"It's a matter of life and death. I really didn't know if I would survive let alone my dog"

According to a report filed by a Trumbull County Sheriff’s Deputy, Jenifer Love heard her dog Kevin yelping outside during a routine bathroom break at her home on Taylor Avenue early Monday.

"My big dog had come back to the house and he didn't have the little dog with him," said Love.

Jennifer waited for Kevin, her 12-year old Pomeranian mix until something didn't seem right.

Around the back of their garage, she found Kevin in the jaws of a loose pit bull.

"The dog was just tearing him up and trying to kill him."

It's what Jennifer did next that ultimately saved her dog's life
 
"I started thinking I have to do what I would do if this was a man attacking me, so I'm going to bite, claw, scratch the ears, go for any of the vital places and I bit the dog as hard as I could on the ear," she said.
 
Her neighbors eventually freed them both, but neither could escape the harm that had already been done.  Jennifer was hospitalized with injuries.  Kevin was rushed to the vet with multiple punctures and lacerations.  
 
"They said the first 48 hours would be the worst and if he makes it through that, which we're here now, he should be okay," Jennifer said while holding back tears.
 
The owner of the pit bull, 42-year old William Dempsey, is scheduled to appear in Newton Falls Municipal Court Thursday, where he'll face a charge of failure to keep an animal under reasonable control.