One of the best TV series I've ever seen, I'm rewatching the series again for the second time.
I agree with most of yall James(Sawyer) was my favorite character of the entire season because even though he tried to play the tough guy role he always had the interest of others at heart.
To answer...
Story is crazy man. Realistically I dont believe that woman OWNED those pitbulls I believe they belonged to her boyfriend or whatever and she was out taking them for a walk so when they attacked she had no control because they wasn't obedient to her.