School Bus Driver Breaks Up Pit Bull Attack
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"You have to stay focused. That's one of the keys,” said David Bliss. "If your mind's not on your work, you'd better stay home."
Words for a school bus driver that couldn't be more true.
"Anything can happen out here. Emergencies can arise very quickly."
David found that out at the end of his last bus run, Monday.
"They just were intent on committing mayhem."
Bliss was on Canandaigua-Farmington Townline Road when he noticed a woman, a baby, and a dog being attacked by two pit bulls.
"I pulled my bus up over here, jumped out, landed on the dogs, started beating on them and trying to pull them apart."
Bliss says the dogs were beyond mean.
"Totally vicious and to see that kind of raw anger in a dog is quite amazing."
The whole thing lasted two minutes.
"I don't know why they let go, but they did."
He was able to get the dogs off the woman and her dog, but not before the animals turned on him.
"I've got puncture wounds back and front and stitches back and front."
A small price, really.
"You don't think about those things. You just do it."
Bliss says he is a dog lover, and has two of his own. A day after the attack, he just had to check on the woman he saved, Cynthia Devaney, and her dog, Jordan.
"It was totally a shock,” Cynthia said. "I'm doing. It was awful. It was really really scary. Nothing like I've ever gone through in my life."
Shaken up, Cynthia was treated for her bites. Her grandson's fine. And so is Jordan.
"You were amazing. You were amazing. I'm so thankful you came along. So thankful,” she said.
Canandaigua Animal Control took the two pit bulls in. They'll be quarantined for ten days. No word yet if their owner will face charges.
“They just had her by each side of the neck and they were just tearing,” said David Bliss. He still marvels at the pure viciousness of the attacks.
“These dogs don't have a place in this world, being like they are because they serve no purpose."
The day after he was bitten, David was back at work, driving bus for the Canandaigua school district. His mind was on his job. On the bus, or off it.
"It ended a whole lot better than I thought it would. Because when you jump into something like that, you have no idea what's going to happen, and you don't think about it. You just do it."
"All's well that ends well."