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Former “Bachelor” star Sean Lowe is opening up about a harrowing dog attack that left him “fighting” for his life.
Lowe, who headed up Season 17 of the reality dating competition, took to Instagram Monday to share that his dog Moose had attacked him twice in a 24-hour period last week, resulting in a trip to the emergency room and lifelong injuries.
“Our family has been through something pretty traumatic over the weekend,” he told followers, sitting alongside wife Catherine Giudici Lowe, the winning contestant from his season.
While hosting a small barbecue at his home, smoke drifted into the house and set off the smoke alarm, causing his rescue boxer Moose to get agitated, Lowe explained.
“He shows his teeth at me and just attacks me,” Lowe said. “I don’t mean bite and then run off — like a lot of dogs do when they’re scared or defensive — I mean attacks me. I feel him ripping into the flesh of my arm, and at this point I’m doing everything I possibly can just to fend this dog off. … I know I’m bleeding badly.
“I’m not trying to be dramatic, but I honestly just felt like I am fighting for my life here against my dog,” he said.
After fighting to get free with the help of his guests, Lowe was rushed to the hospital where he was stitched up, only to return to a similar trauma hours later.
After the door keeping Moose held away was blown open by the wind, the dog returned for a second attack.
“Going through a dog attack is pretty darn traumatic,” he recalled in the video. “Having to re-live it less than 12 hours later, seeing that dog running straight at you, is a feeling I don’t think I ever want to experience again.”
As Lowe once again attempted to wrestle the dog away, he says the creature “ripped” his “arm open” and he began worrying it would kill him. Eventually, after regaining control and waiting for an ambulance and the cops to arrive, Lowe returned to the hospital for stitches once more.
The incident shocked him, he said, as the dog, whom the family adopted in January, had not shown signs of aggression before. Lowe also voiced gratitude that it had been him and not the rest of his family − he and Guidice share three children − that had suffered the attack.
“It took everything I had to control this dog, and I’m 220 pounds,” he continued. “If it were anyone else, he would’ve killed my children or my wife.”
Though they rarely result in fatalities, dog bites remain a widespread medical concern in the United States. The American Veterinary Medical Association estimates that 4.7 million people are bitten each year, though less than a million seek medical care.
“It wasn’t Moose’s fault,” Lowe said toward the end of the video. “I think it’s clear he experienced a lot of trauma before we got him and had something neurologically wrong where just a switch flipped and he turned into an absolute killer, which was so weird.”
The reality star added that the family was working with a no-kill shelter to find a non-harmful new home for Moose, who he said was too dangerous for their family, but ultimately shouldn’t be punished.
“We’re torn up about it,” Lowe concluded. “And we miss our dog, as crazy as it sounds.”
