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WILTON, CT – A 56-year-old woman is the hospital after her pit bull attacked and proceeded to entirely remove one of her arms and partially remove the other. She was rescued by passing motorists who heard her screaming for help from underneath her car.
Anne Murray is in stable condition despite losing one arm, a portion of her other arm below the elbow, and bites from her legs up to the side of her head. She can thank two Good Samaritans for her life, as they were the ones who stopped because they saw the pit bull wandering in the road.
Thinking they were helping the dog, the first motorist who stopped to help corral the dog back in its yard got back inside her car when the dog began acting aggressive towards her. A second motorist who had stopped to help heard screams for help coming from underneath a car in the home’s driveway, and called 911 for help.
The arriving police officer witnessed Murray under the car trying to fend off the dog – a two-year-old male named Tuxedo. Quickly determining the dog was ****ing nuts, the officer shot and killed it. Tuxedo’s body is now being tested for rabies. Wilton Police Lt. Donald Wakeman said that Murray lives in the home with her twin 26-year-old sons, and that Tuxedo has been in the home since it was a puppy.
“Technically, the dog belonged to one of the sons,” said Wakeman. “The sons weren’t home all the time, so she took care of the dog when they weren’t there. Why the dog turned on her, we don’t know.”
Wilton’s animal control department said they are familiar with Tuxedo, having dealt with him twice this summer. In both cases, they responded to complaints of the dog roaming off the property. There have been no reports of the dog being aggressive or of having attacked anyone before.
Benjamin Hart, professor emeritus at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and an animal behaviorist, said that he’s not surprised by this. Actually, he didn’t say this regarding this attack, but rather in a SFGate article earlier this year about pit bulls attacks that seem to happen out of the blue.
“It’s quite common for a pit bull to show no signs of aggression,” Hart said. “People will call it a nice dog, a sweet dog, even the neighbors – and then all of a sudden something triggers the dog, and it attacks a human in a characteristic way of biting and hanging on until a lot of damage is done.”
Hart went on to say that pit bulls are responsible for about 60 percent of dog attack fatalities each year, which is “way out of proportion” compared with other breeds – especially since pit bulls only make up less than 5 percent of the American dog population.
I’ve been writing animal attack stories for almost a decade now, and when it comes to pit bulls, I have a top ten list of reasons why a pit bull may attack. In no particular order, they are:
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1. Pit bull was raised to be aggressive
2. Pit bull was abused
3. Owner of dog was recently baptized
4. Pit bull was not spayed or neutered
5. Pit bull was injured or sick
6. Pit bull was fed after midnight
7. Pit bull was protecting something (owner, food or water, reputation)
8. Pit bull was scared or startled
9. Pit bull was redirecting aggression from another source
10. Owner refused to sell their soul to Satan
Anne Murray is in stable condition despite losing one arm, a portion of her other arm below the elbow, and bites from her legs up to the side of her head. She can thank two Good Samaritans for her life, as they were the ones who stopped because they saw the pit bull wandering in the road.
Thinking they were helping the dog, the first motorist who stopped to help corral the dog back in its yard got back inside her car when the dog began acting aggressive towards her. A second motorist who had stopped to help heard screams for help coming from underneath a car in the home’s driveway, and called 911 for help.
The arriving police officer witnessed Murray under the car trying to fend off the dog – a two-year-old male named Tuxedo. Quickly determining the dog was ****ing nuts, the officer shot and killed it. Tuxedo’s body is now being tested for rabies. Wilton Police Lt. Donald Wakeman said that Murray lives in the home with her twin 26-year-old sons, and that Tuxedo has been in the home since it was a puppy.
“Technically, the dog belonged to one of the sons,” said Wakeman. “The sons weren’t home all the time, so she took care of the dog when they weren’t there. Why the dog turned on her, we don’t know.”
Wilton’s animal control department said they are familiar with Tuxedo, having dealt with him twice this summer. In both cases, they responded to complaints of the dog roaming off the property. There have been no reports of the dog being aggressive or of having attacked anyone before.
Benjamin Hart, professor emeritus at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and an animal behaviorist, said that he’s not surprised by this. Actually, he didn’t say this regarding this attack, but rather in a SFGate article earlier this year about pit bulls attacks that seem to happen out of the blue.
“It’s quite common for a pit bull to show no signs of aggression,” Hart said. “People will call it a nice dog, a sweet dog, even the neighbors – and then all of a sudden something triggers the dog, and it attacks a human in a characteristic way of biting and hanging on until a lot of damage is done.”
Hart went on to say that pit bulls are responsible for about 60 percent of dog attack fatalities each year, which is “way out of proportion” compared with other breeds – especially since pit bulls only make up less than 5 percent of the American dog population.
I’ve been writing animal attack stories for almost a decade now, and when it comes to pit bulls, I have a top ten list of reasons why a pit bull may attack. In no particular order, they are:
***
1. Pit bull was raised to be aggressive
2. Pit bull was abused
3. Owner of dog was recently baptized
4. Pit bull was not spayed or neutered
5. Pit bull was injured or sick
6. Pit bull was fed after midnight
7. Pit bull was protecting something (owner, food or water, reputation)
8. Pit bull was scared or startled
9. Pit bull was redirecting aggression from another source
10. Owner refused to sell their soul to Satan
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