DES MOINES (AP) — A man stabbed a dog to death in Council Bluffs on Sunday after seeing it charge a woman and her dog, officials said.

Ann Lyon, 77, was in her front yard with her dog on Sunday when an American bull dog attacked her, said Galen Barrett, the city’s chief animal control officer.

"It proceeded to come across the street and began to attack her," Barrett said Monday. "It grabbed her arm."

Kevin Daub said he was driving by but stopped when he saw the dog charge Lyon. He jumped out of his car, pulled the dog off Lyon and struggled with the animal for a minute. Sensing he was tiring, Daub pulled out a pocketknife and stabbed the dog to death.

"I just heard her screaming ’Help, help me, help me,’ so I ran over and tried pulling it off her," Daub told Omaha, Neb., television station WOWT.

Barrett said it’s unclear if the dog was after Lyon’s dog, which he described as a young Rottweiler mix, and Lyon got in the middle.

Barrett said Lyon was wearing a leather coat, which protected her.

"I talked to her this morning. It’s an issue of bruises rather than punctures," he said.

Lyon had refused medical treatment.

Barrett said the dead dog would be tested for rabies, but it was licensed.

He said the dog is from the same neighborhood as Lyon’s, near downtown Council Bluffs. The owner had been found.

Barrett said the owner’s name had not been released. The investigation was ongoing, and charges could be pending, he said.

Barrett said charges, if filed, could range from a dog at large to harboring a dangerous dog, which are simple misdemeanors punishable by fines.

Barrett said the American bull dog managed to get out of the owner’s property. He said there had been no previous reports of problems with the dog.

"I don’t know what tripped it," he said.

Lyon’s dog was not injured.

WCFcourier.com - Waterloo and Cedar Falls Iowa News Homepage | News*»*Breaking News