Phoenix woman loses arm in dog attack and needs help paying for a prosthetic

PHOENIX - A Phoenix woman lost her arm after a brutal dog attack. The animal lover was fostering an animal that had been abused.

She's lucky to be alive, and despite the attack, Kalista Munoz is not slowing down.

Munoz has always loved animals. She’s rescued many and currently has four dogs and four cats.

But in July 2023, Zona, an older dog she was fostering attacked.

"He came straight downstairs and by the time I came downstairs, he had pinned my dog to the wall," Munoz said.

She intervened.

"At that point, he had gotten my thigh, and I was pinned, and I had to quickly get up," Munoz said. "From quickly getting up, that’s when he started to latch onto my arms."

Even when the dog was biting her, she tried to remain calm. The dog had her cornered in her bathroom.

"By the time I could wrestle him down and reach for the door, unfortunately, my elbow was gone," Munoz said.

Her neighbors heard her screams and called the police. It took pepper spray to get the dog to stop.

"The only thing I remember thinking is that, 'I'm not, this isn't how I'm gonna go,'" Munoz said. "I'm not gonna die. I'm not gonna die like this."

Munoz spent a month in the hospital and had nearly 20 surgeries. However, she believes there is beauty in tragedy.

Kalista Munoz

"Instead of playing the victim, I want to play someone else," Munoz said. "I want to play the person that does it."

Despite having her arm amputated, she is determined to continue working, getting her Master’s Degree, and taking care of her animals.

"It’s kind of exciting to see like, ‘Alright, can I do this?’" Munoz said. "Like a challenge every time to see my capabilities and what I actually can do instead of being a Debbie Downer."

Munoz has been fitted for a prosthetic but is battling insurance to pay for it.

If you’d like to help her, you can find more information here.