Phoenix woman known as 'Mel from Shell' mauled by 2 dogs

PHOENIX - A beloved and self-described "crazy dog lady that works nights at Shell" in Phoenix was brutally attacked by two dogs.

Melyssa Sharp is known as "Mel from Shell."

In her GoFundMe, she says in part, "People have come to me to have lost dogs scanned, nails trimmed, or their pups vac'ed or dewormed. If there is a lost dog, or kittens needing bottle feeding or anything animal related on my corner, 35th Ave and Cactus, I'm the go-to girl. That said, last week I was mauled (not by my girls.) My scalp was ripped off and both of my arms and one leg were eaten, in part."

By June 12, she's on the road to recovery and was released from the hospital, so she spoke with FOX 10 about what happened.

Melyssa Sharp

"I was screaming and the neighbors aren't doing nothing. I just kept thinking, ‘somebody call 911! Somebody. They're eating me.'"

Sharp says the two dogs who attacked her were a rare breed – Dogo Argentino – which are known to have strong and powerful jaws.

One of them had just had 14 puppies.

The dogs belonged to a friend she was visiting in Mesa on June 2. Sharp says they attacked her when walked into the front yard.

Initially, she said it appeared the dogs were happy to see her and were wagging their tails. But that wasn't the case.

"Pushed my arm into her mouth, dropped the box, tried to take my fingers and shove them up her nose to block their way of air of getting into there so that she would open her mouth and release," she said. "But by that time the boy had started to get me in my elbow," she said.

Sharp says the mauling lasted at least 15 minutes. She was screaming and her friend was screaming for the dogs to stop, trying to pull them off her.

Sharp's injuries are severe. A broken arm, flesh ripped from her arm and leg and part of her scalp is detached.

"Hunks of my skin were actually gone," she said. She detailed her scalp injury saying, "It looks like it was one piece, but it was torn off 2 times. He grabbed my scalp twice."

She's had 7 surgeries so far. 

She and her daughter need financial help, but she struggles to ask for it. They've set up a GoFundMe for anyone who wishes to help.

"My daughter lives with me, Marley and my son, Diesel, only around the corner, they both rely on me to provide. So if you know me and at any point I was kind or helpful to you, this would be the time I could use some of that kindness returned. I hate that I am even having to ask …," she said on her GoFundMe.

Sharp says she loves animals and doesn't blame the dogs. She says they were in protective mode.