Woman and dog recovering after being attacked by two unleashed dogs in Rutherford

At about 6am on Sunday, October 15, on a Rutherford route they take every day, the pair were attacked from behind by a German Shepherd and a Pitbull.

Ms Lawn said the Pitbull attacked Floki's hind legs and the German Shepherd growled and snarled as she tried to fend them off, leaving her with puncture wounds on her hands.

A neighbour heard her screams and was able to fend the dogs off and call an ambulance.

While paramedics took Ms Lawn to Maitland Hospital, the police took Floki to an emergency vet where he received treatment for his wounds.

Surgery was busy in the hospital that day, and Ms Lawn ended up waiting more than 24 hours for an operation on her hands.

This added to her stress as she doesn't have a spleen, due to Elhers-Danlos Syndrome - a skin tissue and joint disorder.

This heightens her risk of infection and sepsis.

"His back legs are pretty bad, he's probably got at least a dozen puncture wounds," Ms Lawn said of Floki.

"I've got maybe four on my right hand, so I can use four fingers on my right hand, but my left hand I have a puncture in the wrist and a puncture pretty close to the bone on the finger," she said.

"My finger and my thumb, and my first two fingers are quite numb at the moment, but I think I'm very lucky that nothing was broken."

So far, the vet bill is $3500, and it will rise when Floki has to go back in a week for more treatment.

Ms Lawn said she expects Floki, who is her registered service animal, will be shaken by the incident for quite a while. "It seems like he's got a bit of his spirit back," she said.

"I think he'd probably like to try to go for a walk, but he's still scared of being in his own backyard at the moment."

Ms Lawn is feeling grateful at the support she has received.

"[I feel] sincere gratitude that somebody heard me scream and came to help, and the fact it's not more serious than it was and that we're alive," she said.

A spokesperson for Maitland City Council said its rangers are aware of the incident and investigations are ongoing.

"Council rangers are aware that two unidentified dogs were involved in an incident on Sunday morning," the spokesperson said.

"If you see a dog or pet on the loose out of hours, don't approach the animal and call our out of hours customer experience number on 02 4934 9700."

Ms Lawn said as an NDIS participant, sometimes her support workers walk Floki and she's terrified at the thought of something like this happening to them.

She encourages pet owners to microchip and train their animals.

Ms Lawn is an artist, and said her friends have been upset about how her hand injuries might affect her work, but she said she hasn't even had a chance to think about that yet.

A fundraiser has been set up to help with the vet bills. Visit gofundme.com/f/kelly-and-floki-have-been-attacked to view.

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