A Kentucky man woke up on Christmas Eve morning to find his wife dead after authorities say she was attacked by a neighbour’s two dogs.

John Saylor told investigators in Bell County in southeastern Kentucky that he went out to his porch Sunday morning to look for his wife, Lorraine, who usually wakes up before he does. But before he found his wife, the dogs attacked him, pulling him to the ground by the arm.

Saylor’s brother, who lives nearby, heard the commotion, rushed outside and yelled at the dogs. Able to get away, Saylor ran back to his home and grabbed his .22-calibre pistol, according to the Bell County Sheriff’s Department.

As one of the dogs lunged at him, Saylor fired a shot, striking the animal, which then ran away.

Saylor later found his wife lying on the ground in front of the house. The other dog stood nearby as he was checking on her. Authorities said Saylor feared for his life and shot the dog, killing it.

The wounded dog was found Monday when it returned home, the sheriff’s department said. The animal was later put down.

The dogs’ owner, 42-year-old Johnny Dale Lankford, was charged with harbouring a vicious animal.

It was not clear what prompted the attacks or why the dogs were outside. The sheriff’s department has not responded to a call from The Washington Post.

Authorities said Lankford was already in custody on a $25,000 bond in the Bell County Detention Center at the time of the attacks. He was charged Friday with second-degree assault, domestic violence and unlawful imprisonment. It was not clear whether the dogs were alone or if someone else was in Lankford’s home when they attacked the Saylors.

The sheriff’s department described the animals as pit bulls — a generic term for dogs with a square, blocky head and an athletic build — though their specific breeds, lineage and history are unknown.

Saylor, who was injured in his arm and head, blamed Lankford for the death of his wife of nearly four decades.

“I’m sure he will see this. I hope he does. He’s responsible for my wife’s death,” he said of Lankford, according to ABC affiliate WATE.

In tears and with his left hand covered in bandages, Saylor recalled thinking, “Oh, God! Oh no! Please no!” as he checked on his wife’s pulse. But Lorraine Saylor, who her husband said weighed only 105 pounds, was already dead.

“She was a kind-hearted woman,” Saylor told WATE. “I remember the last time I kissed her on the forehead, not knowing that would be my last kiss.”

Saylor said his wife, who suffered more than 20 bites, had gone out earlier that morning to feed the cats as part of her daily routine. Saylor went to check on her after realizing she hadn’t walked back inside the house in a while.

Two weeks ago, the death of a young woman, who authorities say was mauled to death by her two dogs while out on a walk, rocked the small town of Goochland, Virginia.

Bethany Lynn Stephens’s gruesome death fuelled speculation, rumours and anger from members of the public, many of whom questioned the investigators’ findings and doubted that the dogs, which friends said were loving and friendly, would ever turn on their most important human.

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Goochland County Sheriff Jim Agnew, who said the animals were described by family members as pit bulls, doubted that the reason for the attacks that led to Stephens’ death would ever be known. But animal behaviour experts said the attacks could not have happened out of the blue.

Experts also said a dog’s tendency to be aggressive does not necessarily depend on its breed.

An aggressive reaction, a sudden change in the dogs’ home life, behavioural changes that they might have been going through as they matured, or a combination of all of these could have been contributing factors that ultimately led to Stephens’s death, experts said.