‘Traumatizing’: 78-Year-Old Black Woman Says Man Hurled Racial Slurs While Letting Dog Attack, But What Police Did Next Is Raising Questions

An elderly North Carolina woman said that a man let his German shepherd attack her and her chihuahua while calling her racial slurs, leaving her emotionally and physically wounded.

Police in Greenville, North Carolina, say they are investigating the attack, which happened on March 5 and left 78-year-old Phyllis Barrett and her dog injured.

Barrett said she was walking her dog near an apartment complex that day when she encountered a man playing fetch with his German shepherd.

At one point, the man allowed the German shepherd to run over to Barrett and didn’t stop the dog when it attacked her and her chihuahua.

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Barrett recounted how the man even shouted racial slurs during the attack. He didn’t call off his dog until another woman walked by.

Barrett said the incident was “the most traumatizing thing I have ever been through.”

“I lived during the ’60s. I was part of the hate crimes that went on during the ’60s. And I thought in 2026, this would never happen,” the 78-year-old told WITN.

Barrett said that she sustained injuries to her wrist and the left side of her body. Her dog was also limping for a few days after the attack.

She said that immediately after the attack, she asked property managers at the nearby apartment complex to call 911. Management called the non-emergency line.

Barrett initially indicated she didn’t need an ambulance, but when management called police a second time, she requested one.

An ambulance was never dispatched to the scene.

Greenville police are investigating why an ambulance was never sent after the second call was made. Authorities initially said an ambulance wasn’t sent because Barrett said she didn’t want one.

However, an Animal Protective Services officer was sent to the scene. Barrett told the officer she was injured, but the officer reported not seeing any visible injuries on her or her dog.

Barrett said she’s horrified by the entire ordeal and wants the man held accountable.

“To this day, right now, I’m sitting here trembling, thinking about what happened. My dog is 11 years old,” Barrett said.