OLYMPIA -- Doctors call it one of the worst dog attacks they've ever seen.

A local woman who was mauled by her neighbor's dog wants to know why the animals are allowed to stay in their home across the street.

Julie Crews says she went over to her neighbor's home to check on an elderly woman whom she knew to live on the property.

Crews said she was making a neighborly visit because she had seen an ambulance in front of the house on several different occasions in recent weeks.

But Crews says when she walked onto her neighbor's yard, two Anatolian shepherds came out of nowhere and attacked her.

"Instantly they were just on me. They had me down before I knew what was going on," she said.

Crews says the two dogs teamed up and started biting her head.

"It just felt like my whole scalp split open," she said. "Once I felt my scalp come off and felt it separate more, I rolled on my stomach and tried to pull my hood over and pull the cords tight to protect the rest of my head."

The attack left gruesome scars on Crews' head. Aside from reconstructive surgeries, Crews is being treated with rabies shots as a precaution.

Crews says her terror isn't over due to a county ordinance.

"The dogs that attacked me are still right across the road," she said.

Because Crews entered her neighbor's property without permission, the owner of the dogs cannot be held accountable.

And in Thurston County, the owner of dogs that are considered aggressive or dangerous has the right to quarantine them on her property. The owner of the shepherds has chosen to do just that.

KOMO News tried to talk to the elderly woman's daughter at the house, but was told to leave the property.

The woman reportedly lives at the home with her two daughters. It is not known who the dogs belong to.

Crews plans to challenge the county ordinance that permits owners to keep animals on their property in such cases.