The attack and shooting happened on Sherman Ave. near Chapel Street around 10:30 a.m.
Sally Broadstreet told News 8 she and her 12-year-old Collie mix Max were just sitting there when a stray dog came along and started attacking Max. She said she tried to stop the Pit Bull with her cane but it didn't work.
"Then he got my dog on the ground where he got his neck, then he got his leg and his arm and all that," Broadstreet said.
People who saw what happened tried to help while others called police.
"(Police officers) arrived to find the vicious dog attacking an older dog which was being walked by an elderly woman," Officer David Hartman said in a news release. "The Pit Bull had the woman's dog by the face and the attack was frenzied."
After getting bystanders to move back, the officers fired several shots and eventually killed the Pit Bull.
Max was already dead.
"I don't really have any family so he kept me company, he was there for me," Broadstreet said.
"Tonight's going to be really hard. I'll be up all night because I can't sleep."
New Haven police say they are looking for the owner of the Pit Bull, which had no identifying tags. There will also be an internal investigation because officers fired their weapons.
A police spokesperson said if they had attempted to taze the pit bull it could have been a different and perhaps more dangerous situation with so many people around.
(WNTH - May 20, 2012)
