A dog owner devastated by her Rottweilers has said she is ‘nothing’ without them after both were put down following the attack.
Nikita Piil, 31, almost died when her two dogs, Harlem and Bronx, mauled her at her Success home in Perth’s southern suburbs on September 16.
Her family later said she was trying to calm the dogs down after an incident in the neighborhood when she was unfortunately caught in the crossfire and attacked herself.
Piil was taken to hospital with serious injuries to his arms, legs and head and has since undergone at least five life-saving operations.
During the attack, police were forced to shoot Bronx after unsuccessful attempts to distract and Taser the dog. He was later euthanized by veterinarians.
About six weeks later, she was asked to surrender Harlem to the City of Cockburn’s animal control center so he could be put down.
Ms Piil has never spoken publicly about the attack, but has quietly transformed her social media bios into tributes to her beloved pets in recent weeks.
Nikita Piil (pictured) almost died after she was mauled by her own rottweilers in Perth
Mrs Piil (pictured in hospital) almost lost her arm and has undergone at least five life-saving operations
“Harlem & Bronx, you have made me the proudest Rottweiler Mama on the planet,” Ms. Piil wrote in a new update.
‘I am nothing without you.’
Ms Piil had previously updated her bio in January to say so she will never stop loving the dogs and break her silence since the vicious attack.
‘My existence is forever changed, irrevocably changed in your absence, I am broken. Harlem & Bronx,’ she wrote on Facebook.
On Instagram, she said: ‘No words can adequately capture the pain that consumes my heart.
‘Harlem & Bronx – You made life worth living. I will never stop loving you.’
She included a wilted rose emoji in all three posts.
Ms Piil only gave Harlem up to the council because she was given an ultimatum – she could either comply with the state’s dangerous dog requirements or he would be put down.
To keep Harlem, she would have had to keep him in an escape-proof and child-proof enclosure, post “dangerous dog” signs at property entry points, and he would always need a leash and muzzle in public areas.
On October 25, the council confirmed that Harlem had been humanely euthanized.
The police were alerted on the day the dogs attacked Mrs Piil by neighbors who heard her screams at around 10am. 16:45 and tried to help but found they were faced with a dangerous situation.
Nikita Piil quietly updated his Facebook profile (last photo on the left)
Ms Piil also turned her Instagram bio into a tribute to her dogs (pictured)
A neighbour, Bryn Spencer, said he and another person tried to intervene but could not gain access to Ms Piil’s back garden without putting themselves in danger.
‘I heard ‘help, help, please help!’,’ Mr Spencer told Nine News
‘I thought about jumping over the fence and getting in there to try and save her, but apparently there were two rottweilers in there.
‘I didn’t have a knife, I didn’t have anything really good to take this dog out.
‘I only had one bat. All I could really do was watch this girl get ripped apart as I slammed on the fence.’
Another neighbor turned a snake on one of the dogs and momentarily distracted it.
“The dog stopped for a bit and it looked at me and decided what to do,” Mr Spencer said.
‘I kept screaming at it and slamming the fence and then it decided, ‘stop’ and it got the girl and dragged her around the back corner.’
Piil’s oldest dog, Bronx, was shot by the police during the attack, while her youngest, Harlem, was euthanized (Harlem and Bronx in the picture)
Nikita Piil (pictured) was attacked on September 16 and both her dogs were euthanized
Sir. Piil’s family revealed in a GoFundMe after she almost died during her operations.
“The rehabilitation journey ahead will be painful, long and expensive,” they said.
“We almost lost our precious girl a few times…but as you all know, Nikita is our little fighter.”
The City of Cockburn had previously received complaints from neighbors about the Rottweilers’ excessive barking, but there were no reported incidents of attacks prior to September 16.
Mrs Piil loved Rottweilers and was part of several breed-specific groups on Facebook before the attack.
She once described the Bronx as her ‘whole world – loyal, intelligent and protective’.
