By Bahk Eun-ji

The owner of a pit bull terrier that savagely attacked a woman, resulting in amputations, was sentenced to 18 months' jail Thursday.

The Suwon District Court was told that the woman, in her late 70s, had to have her right leg and parts of fingers on her left hand amputated after the pit bull attacked her at 2 p.m. on Dec. 29 in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

The owner, surnamed Lee, 58, was charged with neglecting the dog's management.

Lee raised eight dogs, including another pit bull terrier, in the front yard of his home without safeguards to keep them in, the court heard. Lee used a rusty chain tied to an old stake to keep the attack dog contained. But it savaged the woman after pulling out the stake and escaping Lee's house.

The pit bull terrier is categorized as a fierce dog -- with the American Staffordshire terrier, the Staffordshire terrier and the Rottweiler -- in Korea. Owners of those dogs must keep the animals on a leash and wearing a muzzle in public.