“There’s a big difference in just a bite and what happened to her. She is never going to forget what happened that day," said Richard Schmack, whose 14-year-old daughter lost a finger in the Dec. 19 attack.



Schmack asked that his daughter's name not be used to protect her privacy, and he says it happened after she got off the school bus at the end of their driveway and walked toward the house.



"We now know it was the neighbor's pit bull that was supposed to be in quarantine,” he said. “It came up from behind her, never made a noise, knocked her to the ground. When she hit the ground and rolled, the dog grabbed her right hand and dismembered her right index finger. She’s right-handed."



During the attack, the dog savagely mauled both of the girl's hands. It ran away when she kicked it.



"She got up, jumped the ditch and fell,” Schmack said. “And then got to the neighbor across the street where they were able to offer help and assistance and call 911. "



Schmack, a retired fire captain who relocated with his family from Suffolk to Fluvanna last year, raced home to the horrific scene.



"I got here and checked on her. She was in shock,” he said. “I found her finger in the front yard, we got her to UVA and they took her to emergency surgery."



He says it took 30 stitches to close up her left hand, but the damage to her index finger was so severe that doctors were unable to save it, and it was amputated.



The rabid dog was euthanized, according to the Fluvanna County Sheriff’s Office, as were multiple other animals in the house that had no proof of vaccination. Their owner, Richard Shane Kelley, has been charged with multiple counts of failing to vaccinate companion animals, failing to register them with the county, and one count of cruelty to animals, a class one misdemeanor.