PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WPRI) — A Pawtucket woman says it will take her months to recover after she was attacked by two loose dogs while walking her own dog.

Brenda Hardrow said she went for a walk daily with her beloved Pomeranian named Sugar.

Courtesy of Brenda Hardrow

Hardrow was walking near the intersection of Hicks and Abbot Streets around noon when two dogs, which police described as pit bulls, attacked her.

“They came barrelling at me,” Hardrow recalls. “I mean, just running full force.”

Hardrow said she picked up Sugar in an attempt to protect her. But once the dog was in her arms, the dogs started attacking both of them.

“After I was yelling and people came out, the dogs ran away,” Hardrow tearfully recalled. “I had my dog, and she was already dead.”

Hardrow was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital where she was treated for her injuries. Eyewitness News spoke with her just moments after she was released from the hospital.

“If someone didn’t come out to help her, she’d be dead,” Hardrow’s husband Richard Howarth said.

She said while it will take her months to recover physically, it will take her even longer to recover emotionally.

“I can’t get her face out of my mind,” Hardrow recalled. “I can’t get what happened out of my head.”

Howarth said it’s not the first time the two dogs have been loose.

“We never trusted those dogs, we knew they should be on leashes. The law in Pawtucket is dogs must be on leashes,” Howarth said.

Pawtucket Animal Control was able to locate the two loose dogs and bring them to the pound.

Police said they made contact with the dogs’ owner, but did not say if anyone would be facing any charges.

Howarth said they plan on taking legal action against the dogs’ owners.

The incident remains under investigation.