The pit bull that bit off and likely ate a Connecticut woman’s hands two days ago had been reported to authorities at least twice before the vicious attack on its owner's mother, police said.
Wilton Police Lt. Don Wakeman told The Connecticut Post on Wednesday that animal control officers visited the home of 56-year-old victim Anne Murray twice, both times regarding complaints that the dog — a 2-year-old male pit bull named "Tux" — had roamed off the property.
"They determined during the contact in July that the dog was not currently licensed, and a temporary license was issued," Wakeman told the newspaper.
[pullquote]
Murray, of the affluent Wilton, a town about 45 miles northeast of New York City, was attacked by the dog on Monday. In addition to losing her left arm and a portion of her right, Murray also suffered bite wounds all over her body. Her son, Matthew, said she was recovering late Tuesday at Norwalk Hospital, where she was awake and expects to make a full recovery.
Investigators have not yet questioned Murray about the incident, but criminal charges likely won’t be filed.
“We are looking at this as an extremely unfortunate accident,” Wakeman told the newspaper.
The pit bull was euthanized after the attack and taken to state laboratories to be tested for rabies. The dog had been a part of the family since it was a puppy, police said.
“Technically, the dog belonged to one of the sons,” Wakeman said earlier this week. “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.”
Wakeman declined to comment on whether the dog had eaten Murray’s limbs, but another law enforcement source close to the investigation said most of the flesh and bone the dog ripped from the victim was not recovered.
“Use your imagination as to what happened,” the source told The Connecticut Post.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
