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A Chicago man faces a long road to recovery after he was attacked by a pit bull dog who bit off his nose over the weekend.
Bill Lesinski, 47, told WGN that the attack occurred on Friday night when he was helping a neighbor bring his stereo inside a building on the city's Far Northwest Side. The 2-year-old pit bull, named Monster, reportedly lunged at him and bit off his nose.
Lesinski told ABC Chicago that he has owned pit bulls for the past 20 years and never had any problems with them. He described Monster as aggressive, never having attacked a person before, but attacking his own dog, Tyson, previously.
"I was just in shock that the dog did this because I was just playing with the dog prior to him biting me - about five minutes prior to that," Lesinski told ABC.
Doctors were unable to re-attach Lesinski's nose, so the man will now need to undergo at least six surgeries over a period of up to a year to reconstruct his face. The procedures could total some $200,000 and, as the owner of a new towing company, Lesinski does not have health insurance.
Nevertheless, Lesinski said he has already forgiven Monster, who has been taken into the care of Chicago's Animal Care and Control, NBC Chicago reports.
"It's not the dog's fault," he said. "My dogs have never been aggressive or hurt anybody. It's basically how pit bulls are raised."
Lesinski has set up a fund at a TCF Bank with the hope of collecting donations to offset his medical bills, NBC reports.
Following a series of pit bull attacks, a Chicago alderman suggested that the city should revisit stricter laws governing ownership of the controversial breed within city limits. A citywide ban on pit bull ownership was previously considered in 2007 but was never enacted.