Man Dies In East Tulsa After Being Attacked By His Dog

A Tulsa woman is heartbroken after her husband was mauled to death by one of their own dogs.

Don Gibson and his wife, Gena Carter, were trying to break up a fight between two of their dogs when their pit bull Isabella started attacking Don instead.

"Finally I just threw up my hands and said 'let them fight 'till the end,’” said Carter. “And Don said 'no, no.' And I said, 'Don I got to go get help, look at you.' My garage looked like a slaughterhouse."

Gibson was transported to the hospital, where he died Wednesday night.

"We don't know if it was directly or indirectly because of his injuries, because he had some other medical conditions, but we do know that it was a very contributing factor, there's absolutely no doubt,” said Sgt. Brian Collum of the Tulsa Police Department.

Carter describes Isabella as a good dog. She said she was hyper, but lovable. Carter said she was sad to lose her too.

"What made her turn, I have no idea,” said Carter. “I have no idea. It's just all a shock to me. But after I seen what she did to Don, I said ‘no, no more."’

Carter wants people to remember Gibson for who he was- the kind of person who would do anything to help someone else.

"He was always joking, always joking,” said Carter. “He was a good guy."

Tulsa Police said when it comes to rescuing dogs, especially dogs who might have been abused, it’s important to learn their history.

"Try to find out some background, try to find out some other things before you actually take this dog into your home,” said Collum.

Carter said she’s thankful for her support system, but she is still trying to understand and process what happened.

“Right now, I just don't want to see any dog,” said Carter. “But it isn’t their fault that it happened. But I'll take care of them. They're my babies. It's all I got to live for now."

Gena hopes people will learn from her story and get involved if their dog starts showing signs it could be aggressive.