Texas mom bites dog's ear off to save 2-year-old daughter from being mauled

A Texas woman and her 2-year-old daughter are recovering after a dangerous encounter with a friend's dog that culminated in the woman biting the animal's ear off to save her from being mauled.

KHOU-TV reported that the incident involving Chelsi Camp and her daughter Mackenzi ocurred at the end of March while Chelsi Camp was dog-sitting for a friend at their apartment complex in Alvin. Camp told KHOU that the dog, a pit bull, had been friendly toward her in the past, but attacked the child not long after encountering her for the first time.

"The dog came up and he was just curious," Camp was quoted as saying. "When he smelled her, that's when you saw it flip because I think he smelled my dog on her."

Besides biting its ear off, Camp came to her daughter's aid by stuffing her fist into the animal's mouth and contacting authorities. She suffered damage to her arms and only recently regained full use of them. Mackenzi still bears scars on her face from the incident but has otherwise recovered. She is scheduled to attend counseling to address any mental trauma caused by the incident.

"I can actually hold her again," Camp told KHOU. "I couldn't hold her for the first week, that was the hardest part."

Local police shot the dog after the incident. It was later euthanized at a local facility.

Watch KHOU's report on Camp's rescue of her daughter, as aired on Monday, below.