SPRING HILL, Fla. — A west-central Florida woman was in critical condition after she was attacked in her backyard by her neighbor’s dogs, authorities said.

According to Hernando County deputies, the woman, who was in her 60s, was with her small dog at her Spring Hill home Friday when a pack of larger dogs spotted them, WTVT reported. The woman had just picked up her dog to protect it when the larger animals, from a nearby home, forced their way into the yard through a partially opened sliding glass door and attacked, according to WTSP.

According to a news release from the Sheriff's Office, other neighbors heard the noise and tried to help. They grabbed sticks, a lawn chair and pieces of a gutter in an attempt to fight off the dogs, but were unsuccessful, WTSP reported.

"My neighbor across the street yelled to him, 'Grab a stick and come help!' and he didn't even think twice. He grabbed a stick and ran," Kathie Gillespie, a neighbor, told WTVT. "They went back there and tried to fight the dogs off and the dogs started circling them."

The attack was still in progress when Hernando County Fire Rescue arrived at the scene, the television station reported. Firefighters used equipment to break up the pack, and the person owning the dogs was able to get them out of the yard.

"What I saw I'll never be able to unsee. There were like four or five dogs attacking this woman viciously," Gillespie told WTVT.

Animal Enforcement officers removed seven large dogs from the neighbor's home, WTSP reported. They believe four or five of them were involved in the attack.

Five other people were injured by the dogs, and two victims were taken to an area hospital, WTSP reported.