Teen Gets 500 Stitches After Dog Attack, Asks Mother, "Am I Still Pretty?"

A California teenager, mauled by a pack of dogs last month, asked her mother if she was "still pretty" moments after the attack.

Seventeen-year-old Tracy Hurtado was out jogging near her home in Newberry Springs on July 17 when more than 10 dogs attacked her, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department (SBCSD). The canines inflicted "large lacerations, abrasions and removed flesh," officers said.

A passerby managed to rescue her, and she was taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center.

"Mom, am I still pretty?" Ms Hurtado asked her mother about the injuries.

"Yes, of course, you're beautiful," she responded.

Her mother, Maria Azpeitia, recalled that she struggled to recognise her daughter at the scene. "I didn't know who she was. She was so dirty, covered in dirt. So I didn't recognise my daughter. I recognised her bra. That's what I recognised," she told ABC News.

Ms Hurtado's stepfather, Carlos Ramirez, said she required more than 500 stitches after the attack. "They bit every part of her body you could think of, except for her ankles," he told the outlet.

On August 13, authorities arrested Craig Arthur Simmons, 61, who allegedly owns the dogs involved in the attack. Sixteen large-breed dogs were later seized from his property, with detectives saying they were neither fenced nor leashed. 

He was charged under Penal Code 399(B), which covers cases where an animal causes serious bodily injury or death. Craig Simmons was booked into the High Desert Detention Center, where he remains in custody ahead of a court appearance scheduled for a later date.

A GoFundMe launched for Ms Hurtado's recovery says she had been preparing for her senior year of high school, but now remains home for rehabilitation and medical appointments. The family added that she struggles with nightmares and difficulty sleeping since the attack.

The campaign has raised $36,874 (Rs 32.2 lakh) as of now.