Kelli Maxwell, 41, is undergoing therapy after her Great Pyrenees Scout suddenly jumped on her and bit into the left side of her upper lip before tearing it off
11:20, 17 Dec 2025Updated 13:40, 17 Dec 2025
A woman had her lip torn off after her "loving" dog mauled her face in a freak attack.
Kelli Maxwell, 41, had been petting her five-year-old Great Pyrenees Scout when he suddenly jumped up and mauled her face on October 8. Scout bit into the left side of upper lip was completely torn off, as well as needing eight stitches to her forearm.
The family's other dog, 10-year-old Pitbull Sadie ran into the room with Scout allowing Kelli to escape downstairs to her husband Thomas, 38. Kelli was rushed to Ascension St Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis, where she discovered her lip was fully gone.
Both the hospital and officers from Arcadia Police Department made a bite report and issued the state protocol to Kelli that Scout must be quarantined for two weeks and then euthanised. To avoid any further risk to Kelli's two step-daughters, aged nine and 12, the couple found a local vet to euthanise Scout the following day.
Kelli is in therapy to help come to terms with the attack and wants to raise awareness that "even good dogs can have bad days". Kelli, a marketing director, from Indiana, Atlanta, said: "Scout was a very playful loving dog and a mischief maker as a puppy.
"He was very gentle with our daughters and with us and visitors - he was a very sweet dog. When I got upstairs Scout was laying on the bedroom floor, it was typical he would sleep on our bedroom floor.
"I went into the room and he raised his head and was wagging his tail. "He was awake and acknowledging someone was in the room.
"I turned off the light and went over to him and patted him like normal on his face, eyes and back. I started to rub his belly and the next thing I knew he was in my face.
"I didn't feel the actual bite I could just feel blood all over. My reaction was to push him away so I put my arm up to push him away and he grabbed hold of my forearm. He wouldn't let go of me".
Kelli first brought Scout home when he was six weeks old from Clinton County Humane Society shelter's foster to adopt programme, officially adopting him six months later. Describing the incident as "completely out of the blue" for Scout, on the evening of the attack, it was senior dog Sadie that stopped Scout from attacking Kelli.
She said: "It was dark so I couldn't see what happened but I saw her run up to him and he let me go". Locking Scout in one of their bathrooms, husband Thomas called 911 and both children were taken to a relative's house as Kelli received treatment at
Ascension St. Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis. She said: "I got to my husband downstairs and I was just bleeding and my mind went into first aid mode so I got a wet towel.
"I was bleeding pretty badly. At the hospital I originally saw the physician assistant to evaluate what was going on with my wounds.
"When she came in I had not realised at that point my lip had gone. That's when she informed me there wasn't anything to reattach."
Kelli received eight stitches in her forearm and underwent a one-hour procedure on her lip to help the wound and create a new flap of skin but may need further reconstructive surgery in the future. Upon her return home from hospital, Kelli discovered the piece of her lip that had been ripped off in her bedroom after calling her husband upstairs and asking "him, 'is that my lip on the floor?'.
The police came by the following day to give us a copy of the report and to let us know we had to quarantine Scout. "As far as I can remember and from what I was told protocol here is there is period of time of two weeks and then the police come and get the dog to euthanise it.
"We ended up taking him to be euthanised later that day. We weren't worried about rabies - he was all up to date on his vaccines. Scout had separation anxiety at times and we have two young daughter aged nine and 12 - we didn't want any risk for them".
Kelli is in therapy after the attack and can "kind of feel a little bit normal like my old self". She said: "I want to say that having never been through something like behaviourally euthanising a dog I don't believe it's anyone's first choice and if someone who jumps to the conclusion of 'you've killed your dog', that's not what we wanted to do.
"If we knew another way or had another way to keep everyone and the dog safe we would've done it. Even good dogs can have bad days".