Husband of woman mauled by dogs: ‘I never wanted Great Danes but she wanted to rescue them’

CLEARCREEK TWP. — A man who returned home to find his wife mauled to death by their two rescue dogs said he knew the dogs were aggressive and wishes he pushed harder to get rid of them.

RELATED: Warren County woman mauled to death at home by her dogs

Mark Matthews said he and his wife, Mary, had the dogs for about two years.

He found her Friday evening after returning to their home in the 7400 block of Waterway Drive after he was away for a day and a half, he said.

“She was laying on the bathroom floor. She had enough strength to get them out the back door but she barely made it back to the bathroom, he told News Center 7’s Sean Cudahy on Monday.

The Warren County Coroner’s Office said 49-year-old Mary Matthews suffered multiple dog bites and apparently bled to death from her injuries.

“I never wanted Great Danes but she wanted to rescue them,” Mark Matthews said. “She loved animals so I let her get them. I probably should have put my foot down and said, ‘no,’ obviously.”

>> 3 injured, one critically, in dog attack at Clark County pet rescue

He called the dogs violent, particularly the smaller one, and said he was bitten just last month.

“Usually when the dogs got aggressive with her I would just discipline them and put them outside but I wasn’t here,” he said. “They would get in fights with each other. They would take it out on her if I wasn’t around.”

Matthews said he had concerns about the dogs and that his greatest fear was “what exactly happened” to his wife.

The dogs were turned over the the Warren County Dog Warden and were euthanized on Saturday.

The case remains under investigation.