BIG TIMBER — Dan Engelke’s life changed in an instant in an alley in Big Timber on April 17 when he bent over to pick up trash on the ground.
"He was just trying to pick up a bag of trash to throw it in the garbage and the dog jumped, didn’t fully jump over the fence, but lunged over the fence, bit his arm and tried to pull him over the fence. He has bruises on his stomach and hip from the dog pulling so hard, and he had to grab his arm and rip it out of the dog’s mouth," said family friend Charli Smith.
Engelke's injuries are graphic. He's already undergone several procedures and is set for more. Ahead is a long road to recovery.
"On the top part of his arm, it’s about a 15-by-9 centimeter gash, ripped tendons out of his arm, severe muscle damage," said his daughter Dancee Engelke.
"It was basically a mauling. The dog took a huge chunk out of his arm, and there were teeth marks clear into the bone. He’s going to need extensive work on his arm. He’s going to need skin grafts," added Smith.
And to add on top of the attack, Engelke is without insurance. He was just over 60 days into a new job and healthcare coverage hadn't kicked in yet.
The Big Timber community is rallying behind him and there is a GoFundMe set up to help cover his medical costs; click here if you would like to donate.
"That’s one thing about Big Timber, the people in our community are willing to help each other any way we can," added Engelke.
Meanwhile, the Sweet Grass County Sheriff's Office is investigating the attack. Currently, the owners of the dog have not been identified and the animal has not been quarantined.
Both Engelke and Smith said that because this is the first incident the dog was involved in to their knowledge, and they don’t believe that it should be put down.
However, Dancee said her father doesn’t feel the same.
"He’s made several comments that the dog should be put down. If it was a bite, do I think he would feel like that? No. A dog bite's a dog bite. But to the severity that his arm is, I think in his mind it should rightfully be put down," Engelke added.
Both Smith and Engelke said the dog didn't actually leave its yard. Engelke said the Great Pyrenees was able to grab a hold of her father's arm because the garbage was right next to the fence and the fence was only four feet tall.
But what concerns them more is where the attack took place.
"He could see the grade school from where he was when he was attacked," Smith said.
"The house sits a half a block from the grade school that my daughter attends, that most of my friends' children attend," said Engelke.
Dan is now on the road to recovery even though it remains to be seen whether he'll regain full use of his arm.
"We’re hoping with physical therapy and how technology in the medical world has advanced, that he’ll be fine, but it’s hard to say... He needs plastic surgery. They’re going to have to do a skin graft at some point, reattach the tendons, they said it might limit what he can do with it being his dominant arm," Engelke said.
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