Quite a harrowing Friday for the President and General Manager of Investigation Discovery (ID), Henry Schleiff.

Last Friday, June 18, as part of Discovery Communications’ 25th Anniversary Celebration, employees took part in "Discover Your  Impact Day," where they volunteered  to do some sort of community service.

Schleiff went to an animal shelter in Manhattan to help out with rescue dogs that hope to be adopted. At the shelter he was asked to walk some of the dogs in a nearby park, which he gladly did.

As he was walking a terrier that weighed about 20 to 25 pounds, Schleiff told TVWeek, he passed  an elderly woman of about 80 years of age who was with a pit bull. They were about about 25 to 30 feet away.

Schleiff made sure the terrier stayed close by his side, but the pit bull, who was also on a leash, dragged the elderly woman over to Schleiff and attacked the poor terrier.

A crowd gathered. Lots of yelling and screaming. Schleiff tried to pull the terrier away, but the pit bull had its teeth firmly into the terrier. Finally, in desperation to save the terrier, Schleiff took his right hand and bent down to see if he could disengage the pit bull.

As he did so, the poor terrier, totally panicked, grabbed Schleiff’s right hand and bit down. Hard. In excruciating pain, Schleiff was able to finally get the terrier off of his hand. 

By now, Schleiff says, blood was flowing everywhere. A bystander finally took a stick or shovel and got the pit bull off the terrier, which recovered.

Schleiff was taken to the  hospital, put under general anesthesia and underwent surgery on his hand. The wounds were deep and he’s now got 35 stiches in his right hand. The hand is all wrapped up, but the  doctor told him no tendons were severed, so Schleiff should make a full recovery.

Said Schleiff philosophically,  "As they say, no good deed goes unpunished."