Rema Rainsford-Hunt still can’t sleep at night. Every few hours she’s startled awake by visions of the Thursday afternoon a year and a half ago when she was very nearly mauled to death by three large dogs. She meets regularly with a PTSD counselor, but the nightmares persist. Her days are hard, too. She’s in constant discomfort. Mangled nerve endings send shooting pain through her feet and legs, now crisscrossed with pink and purple scars. “I always thought my best asset was my legs,” said Rainsford-Hunt, shaking her head. “Now, to me, they look like chop suey.”
In the days and weeks after the attack on November 5, 2015, Rainsford-Hunt actively avoided attention as a victim of a violent incident that grabbed headlines and shocked the dog-loving sensibilities of the City of Santa Barbara. It was enough to anonymously endure the medical procedures, court hearings, and public scrutiny ― which at times placed the blame for the attack squarely on her ― that followed. Now, Rainsford-Hunt is speaking publicly for the first time to set the record straight about that day and to help prevent another attack. “I want to finally say what really happened,” she said. “And I don’t want this to happen to anybody else.”
Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Rainsford-Hunt operates a nail salon in Montecito and a dog-training business, Specialized K9 Services, with her husband. They've owned a German shepherd, Belgian malinoi, and Rottweiler. Needless to say, Rainsford-Hunt is comfortable around big dogs.