Rescue dog leaves owner's finger hanging by a thread after she tried to open his jaw to unclamp a cat he killed... (WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT)

A Michigan woman has released shocking pictures of the moment her beloved rescue dog tore into her right index finger.

Alexandra Ross, 22, was bitten by her three-year-old pit bull, Aries, after trying to find him a new owner in December.

The dog, which had been under her care for two months, had struggled to settle in with her other canine.

But after finding someone willing to re-home him, Aries lashed out and clamped his jaws around his potential new owner's cat.

Desperate to release its jaws, Miss Ross jumped in to save the feline's life - but she proved too late, and was bitten during her attempts.

Surgeons managed to re-attach her digit during a 15-minute operation, but it is believed that Aries was destroyed in the process. 

Though the dog trainer and groomer, from Battle Creek, Michigan, believes he was still 'safe', and that if he was killed it was unnecessary.

Alexandra Ross, 22, was bitten by her three-year-old pit bull, Aries, after trying to find him a new owner in December

Miss Ross said: 'I was hysterical. I was crying, and screaming, 'My finger is gone'.

'Surprisingly, it didn't hurt at first, because of the adrenalin, but I could hear him biting through the bone.

'It sounded like crunching and I knew it was bad, everything happened so fast - it burned for a split second, but I couldn't feel it after that because I was in shock.'

She added: 'I don't blame Aries. He just wasn't used to seeing over-stimulating behaviour from cats.

'I cried more about him than about my finger because he was a good dog.

'I still work with dogs, including aggressive ones, as they're my passion.'

Surgeons managed to re-attach her digit in a 15-minute operation after being bitten in December - but she witnessed the entire procedure

She said: 'It sounded like crunching and I knew it was bad, everything happened so fast - it burned for a split second, but I couldn't feel it after that because I was in shock'

Miss Ross adopted pit bull Aries in September from a rescue shelter. But at this point, he had no hair and open wounds from where he had bitten himself.

Infested with fleas and his pupils constantly dilated, she fell in love with 'the way he looked at her'.

She spent two months nursing him back to health, taking him for daily walks and feeding him his favourite foods.

But despite her best efforts, he failed to bond with her other dog, a two-year-old Doberman called Atlas.

They would bump into each other and there was constant tension, because they were both dominant.

So in December, she set about finding him a new home.

'I wanted to keep him and it was a hard decision, but he needed someone who would give him one on one attention,' she said.

'I was looking for a family with no kids or other dogs because I wanted him to be the focus.'

Aries and Miss Ross were visiting his prospective new home in Marshall, just outside Battle Creek, when disaster struck.

He lashed out, clamping his prospective new owner's 20-year-old cat in his strong jaws.

Despite her insisting that he posed no threat, she suspects he has since been destroyed - although she hasn't been told (pictured with another dog)

Miss Ross added: 'Surprisingly, it didn't hurt at first, because of the adrenalin, but I could hear him biting through the bone'

Miss Ross was bitten when she tried to release Aries' jaws from his potential new owner's cat - but her efforts proved too late and the feline died

Miss Ross jumped in, trying to open his mouth to make him let go of the cat in a bid to save its life.

But, despite her valiant efforts, the cat died - and Aries' teeth bit through her finger.

Because he'd bitten all the way through her flesh and bone, she was able to release her hand.

The cat's owner - who has asked not to be named - then drove her to the nearest hospital.

Upon her arrival, she began hyperventilating and vomiting. Doctors gave her medication to try and relax her.

She then went for an X-ray of her hand, before medication was used to numb it and vaccinate her against rabies. 

The police also came to the hospital and Aries, who'd stayed behind at his new prospective owner's house, was taken away by officers.

It's unclear what happened to him.  

'I told the police Aries had never been to the vet's before or had any vaccinations and they just asked me where he was,' she added.

'They then left the hospital and I heard from the couple that they took him away.'

After six hours, she was rushed to the Bronson Methodist Hospital to have a 15-minute operation to sew her finger back up with six stitches.

But she was able to watch the entire ordeal, seeing hair, blood clots and bone fragments.