A Cape Cod teenager is recovering after saying she was attacked by a dog in her own backyard. Now she and her family say they are desperate to identify the dog before it attacks again.

Geneviève Côté said it happened Thursday morning in her garden on Lakeshore Drive in Sandwich, Massachusetts. She said she only went out to check on her cat after hearing growls, and that’s when she spotted a dog she had never seen.

“He was the most aggressive dog I’ve ever met,” Côté said. “I honestly thought he was going to kill me.”

Côté said the dog immediately began attacking her, biting her leg and knocking her to the ground until she was able to fight it off.

“I just put my leg back and kicked him in the nose as hard as I could. He started moaning and ran away. I was bleeding,” Côté said. .

She was rushed to Falmouth Hospital in an ambulance with more than a dozen puncture wounds, but the dog was not found. Côté’s mother posted on social media telling the community to keep an eye out for the dog, who has no collar, a brindle coat and a muscular build.

“It’s a nice neighborhood. People feel safe, and it’s terrifying to have this incredibly vicious dog running around the neighborhood,” said Gena Côté, Geneviève’s mom. “We don’t want this to happen to another family.”

Police and animal control responded to the incident. They’re investigating, but said they couldn’t comment further at this time.

Until the dog was found, the Côté family said it was difficult to feel safe, even in their garden.

“I’m horrified if they don’t find the dog. What if it was my little brother? He’s 6 years old and that dog would have killed him. I had to fight that dog to let go of me,” he said. Cote said. .