Police on Wednesday morning said they shot and killed a pit bull that attacked a woman in a parking lot off Forrest Parkway in Shelton Tuesday night.
The woman, who was not identified by police, was walking to her car when the dog came out of the woods and bit her several times, Detective Ben Trabka said. WTNH reported Wednesday the dog bit the woman 12 times. She was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital for treatment and is undergoing rabies treatment as a precaution, Trabka said.
The dog had apparently been roaming loose before attacking the woman.
Officer William Serrano shot the pit bull Wednesday morning on Forrest Parkway, in the area it was last seen, Trabka said.
“It took an aggressive stance towards the officer that was there,” Trabka said.
Given the animal’s aggressiveness, the fact that the Tuesday attack was “clearly” unprovoked, and the area’s proximity to two day care facilities and Long Hill School, Trabka said police made the decision to shoot the dog.
Trabka said the incident will be investigated.
“Any time a firearm is discharged by an officer, there’s a separate investigation,” Trabka said, adding that the last time police shot a dog was “several years ago.”
Now, police will try to find the dog’s owner — if it had one — and whether it had its rabies shots. Trabka said the pit bull had no identification or vaccination tags on it.
“We have no idea where the dog came from,” Trabka said.
He said day care facilities and schools in the area have been notified of the incident.
The animal ran into the woods after biting the woman.
Police, including the city’s animal control officer, had been searching for the dog since about 6 p.m. Tuesday, when the attack happened.
The woman’s wounds do not appear to be life-threatening, but she was bitten several times.
The attack happened at 1 Forrest Parkway, according to police.
A press release issued by Det. Sgt. Kevin Ahern Wednesday afternoon said police confirmed the breed of the dog after taking its body to a veterinarian.
“The animal was taken to a local veterinarian were it was determined to have a microchip,” the press release said. “At this time police do not have the information from the chip and will be following up to locate its owner. The dog was determine(d) to be a pit bull and weighed approximately 40 pounds.”
The identification of the animal as a “pit bull” has angered Valley Indy Facebook readers. They said identifying the dog as pit bull without definitively explaining how the dog was identified as a pit bull perpetuates the image of pit bulls as aggressive. That simply isn’t true, the readers said.
Shelton police said three times the dog is a pit bull.
“I’m positive it is a pit bull,” Trabka said.
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