A Tennessee mom was forced to have her leg amputated after her pit bull savagely locked its jaws around the limb, leaving it “hanging on by a thread” as she tried to break up a dogfight inside her home.

Amanda Mears, 42, was preparing to take her mixed American Pit Bull-American Staffordshire, named Dennis, out for a walk when the dog lunged at Ralphie, an American Bully, after he escaped from a bedroom where he had been kept inside her Murfreesboro home, according to The Mirror.

As Mears, a health care worker, tried to intervene in the vicious attack, Dennis clamped onto her left leg and refused to release his grip, prompting her to choke the animal with her other leg to break free.

“When he charged at my other dog, Ralphie, I got in between them, and that’s when Dennis latched on to my leg and would not let go,” she told the outlet of the terrifying Dec. 10 incident.

“I was a bit scared, but I’ve broken up dog fights before, and I didn’t feel any pain because of the adrenaline. I ended up having to hook my right leg and my arms around him and choked him out to get him off me.”

She said the pit bull also bit her left hand and crushed the bone in her right arm — injuries she didn’t even realize she’d suffered amid her chaotic attempt to pry her dog’s jaws loose while also yelling at her 10-year-old son to stay in his room.

Once Mears finally broke free, she was rushed to a Nashville hospital, where her mangled leg was practically “hanging off.” Doctors told her she could either amputate the limb or undergo a series of painful surgeries over the next two years, the outlet reported.

“I wasn’t able to stand up because my leg was basically hanging off,” Mears, who has four dogs and also homes canines abandoned by their previous owners, recalled.

“I decided to have my leg amputated because to save my leg, I’d have had to have 12 more surgeries over the next two years and I would be in constant pain.”

Mears had her leg removed below the knee three days later and underwent surgery on her arms, according to a GoFundMe launched to help with her medical expenses.

She is also expected to be fitted for a prosthetic.

After spending a week in the hospital, the single mom chose to euthanize Dennis to keep her son safe.

“Dennis has always been the sweetest dog; he’d never been aggressive before,” she told the outlet.

“I decided to have Dennis put down, which was hard. He was my best friend, and I raised him from two weeks old. It was a decision that hurt, but it was not a difficult decision.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tennessee football beat out Ohio State for transfer edge rusher Chaz Coleman, giving the Vols one of the top players in the portal.

Coleman spent one season at Penn State. With the Nittany Lions, the former four-star prospect collected eight tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack and a forced fumble in nine games.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Tennessee lawmakers are preparing to discuss hundreds of bills as the state legislature convenes, with mental health funding emerging as a priority for two lawmakers.

State Rep. Sam McKenzie, D-Knoxville, and state Sen. Becky Massey, R-Knox County, said mental health care funding will be a focus of upcoming legislative conversations.

“It’s been a big topic,” McKenzie said.

“That’s going to be very top of my mind as far as working and advocating for that,” Massey said.

Massey, who chairs the Transportation Committee, said the state needs more money for road expansion. She expressed concerns about insufficient funding for billion of dollars worth of road projects.

“People are paying less to drive on our roads and the cost of building roads are going up. So your gas tax is going down, the cost of building roads is going up,” Massey said.

McKenzie stressed the need for more public education funding following the first year of families using state dollars for private school through the voucher program.

“In Knox County, our numbers are up. Actually, in Memphis, their numbers are up, so I think some of the changes we’ve made in regard to public education and putting a few more dollars in, I think we can continue that process,” McKenzie said.

State House Speaker Cameron Sexton has said he wants to at least double the voucher program to offer it to 40,000 to 50,000 families. Both Massey and McKenzie expressed skepticism about the expansion.

“This isn’t about those kids in failing schools, this is about their friends, the rich or almost rich, that are just wanting a check from the government,” McKenzie said.

Massey cited revenue concerns about the expansion.

“I’m not getting the vibes that there is going to be enough revenue to do that because we’ve got other funding needs also,” Massey said.

Massey added the state could expand the program this year, but perhaps to 5,000 more families.

The General Assembly will reconvene next Tuesday.

Copyright 2026 WVLT. All rights reserved.