BARRIE -- Realtor Carrie Stiles is recovering after she says she was viciously attacked by a dog after a house showing in Barrie.

“The whole thing looked like a bloodbath,” she says of the incident.

Stiles met two clients at a duplex on Innisfil Street to show them an investment property. She says the tenant warned them about “two extremely dangerous dogs” that were in the backyard and told her that “if we were to let the dog in, he would maim and mangle us.”

After the showing, Stiles and her clients left the house and were talking in the driveway.

That’s when she says the dog escaped the house and attacked.

“The metal screen door flew open. We heard a loud bang, and the dog had pushed his way through the door,” Stiles said, adding that the dog bolted straight for them.

According to Stiles, the animal bit her client’s coat and boots and then turned its aggression her way.

“The dog grabbed the corner of my jacket, latched onto that and was pulling me down to the ground to get to me,” she said.

“All I kept thinking was ‘Don’t lose your balance or this dog’s going to get your throat or your face, and that’ll be the end of me.’”

Stiles says that in her desperation to get away, she tried to climb onto her client’s car. “The dog locked onto my hand. He was thrashing my hand back and forth like an alligator would,” she said.

The tenant eventually got the dog back indoors, and paramedics were called.

The alleged attack left a horrifying scene. “My purse was filled with blood; my coat was covered in blood; my nylons were torn. Because of the snow, it looked like a murder scene,” she said.

Stiles says she believes she will need plastic surgery on her injured hand.

“I’m in a lot of pain. I can’t drive, I can’t write, it’s hard to get dressed, to cut food,” she said, adding that continuing her job will be difficult after her experience. “It’s terrifying to think when I door knock, is a dog going to come up to the door and how am I going to feel?” she said.

Stiles says she feels the dog should be euthanized, and the tenants arrested for negligence, saying she’s thankful her clients didn’t have children with them.

But Barrie police say this is a bylaw issue. The city says it is investigating.

“Pending results of the investigation, the city may proceed with charges under the Dog Owner’s Liability Act,” a spokesperson for the city stated. “This incident occurred on the owner’s property. A dog is not required to be on a muzzle if in the owners’ home or in a fenced yard on the property.”

The city says the owner claims the dog is a Cane Corso breed and not a pit bull, as Stiles claims it was. She is waiting for information from the city’s investigation and says she plans to take legal action.