PALM BAY, Fla. -- A Palm Bay woman is missing part of her finger after being bitten Tuesday morning when she tried to break up a fight between her two dogs.

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The woman was released from Palm Bay Community Hospital late Tuesday morning with a large bandage wrapped around her hand. She was upset and declined to talk with Eyewitness News about the incident.

Officers with Brevard County Animal Services said she was trying to break up a fight between her two dogs in her Santo Domingo Avenue home's bathroom when one of them bit off a small piece of her left ring finger. Both dogs were described as lab mixes.

Animal Services had to use a dart gun to tranquilize the aggressive dog blamed for the bite.

"The sedation chemicals that we use often times will induce vomiting in an animal. He seemed to be resistant in doing that," said Capt. Bob Brown, Animal Services.

Officers had hoped the dog would vomit and the finger part could be retrieved, but that didn't happen. They removed the dog from the house, placed it in a truck and drove it to the South Animal Care Center in Melbourne. It will be up to the owner to decide what will happen to the dog.

Florida law gives owners who have been mauled by their dogs the option of keeping or euthanizing the pet. If the dog would have attacked a neighbor, for instance, then Animal Services would have the final say.