An elderly couple and their dog are recovering tonight from cuts and other injuries caused by two separate and unrelated dog attacks in one week.

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The first attack involved at least two stray dogs that raced into Carl and Linda Kegley’s backyard in Dayton and roughed up Carl and his dog, Bailey, the couple said Friday.

“They were trying to tear her apart,” Carl Kegley said. When he used his body to shield Bailey, the strays went after him.

Days after that attack, a dog being walked off its leash bolted from its owner, entered the backyard and targeted Bailey.

“It was so chaotic. It’s almost like a dream or nightmare,” Linda recalled.

The owner used a garden hoe to beat his animal, to get it off Bailey, she said.

As News Center 7′s Kayla McDermott reported at 11, the Kegleys are sad, scared and angry.

Strays are going to be out because of the warm weather and because shelters are full, said Kara Hamby, Montgomery County Animal Resource Center public information officer.

“We are as full as ever,” she said. “There’s a lot of dogs out there that need homes.”

Whether they have a home or not, dogs sometimes attack for seemingly no reason.

Kegley fell as she tried to get to Bailey during that second attack. She needed stitches after the ordeal. The force the owner used on his dog tore the garden hoe into three pieces. Then, both took off.

Hamby said that according to the Ohio Revised Code, owners must reasonably control their dogs at all times.

The Kegleys want to press charges. But since the man ran, there isn’t much they can do beyond comforting Bailey.

“She’s really traumatized,” Linda said. “She’s not the same.”

Hamby suggested that anyone who comes across strays and believes they might become violent should contact ARC at 937-898-4457.