A Connecticut woman remains in critical condition after being maimed in a brutal pit bull attack.
Neighbors called police Monday after they saw a loose dog acting aggressively. An officer responding to the scene found dog owner Anne Murray, 65, hiding under a car in her driveway after being being attacked by her own pit bull.
The woman, who kicked at the dog from underneath the vehicle, had lost all of one arm and part of the other in the attack, according to police. The officer recognized the aggressive animal as a threat and shot it dead. Authorities said it will be tested for rabies.
Neighbors told Fox Connecticut that the dog, which Murray owned for about two years, was generally well behaved, and were shocked by the events.
"It's one of your family turning on you. It's just awful," neighbor Martin Bates told the station. "I'm a dog lover, but some of those dogs, if they're not well-trained... it's animal nature."
According to the Hartford Courant, Wilton Animal Control had dealt with the dog before. It had been reported several times for wandering around the neighborhood.
Some animal rights activists maintain that pit bulls get a bad reputation, and maintain that aggressive behavior is the result of improper training. Other groups seek to ban pit bull breeding.
"We just don't have poodles and German shepherds doing this," Colleen Lynn, founder of Texas-based DogsBite.org, which advocates such bans, told CTPost.com. "We like to say, 'You're valid if you think these dogs are dangerous.'"
Pit bull attacks involving the death of a child often make the news.
In September, a 2-year-old was mauled to death by three pit bulls at a baby sitter's house.
In June, a 6-year-old California boy was killed by his family's pit bull. The boy's family said that the dog had never been aggressive toward people before.
"He played with kids, very obedient, he was never allowed in the house, stayed right at the door, so we never had any problems with him at all," the boy's aunt, Iona Keanaaina, told KGO-TV.
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