The dogs, both Rottweilers, pushed open a gate inside of a fenced area at 35 Edwards St. when their owner placed trash outside, police said after investigating. The dogs proceeded to 440 Shelton Avenue where they reportedly attacked a 6-year-old girl.
The girl's grandmother, Cynthia Reed, ran outside and was attacked by the dogs, according to police.
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| Curtis Watkins stands with the bat he used to fight off the two rottweilers that were attacking his neighbor, Cynthia Reed, Wednesday evening. With him is his son Malik Sanchez, 12. |
"They grabbed her by the neck and they grabbed her by the throat and they pushed her down the stairs," neighbor Monique Jones said. Reed literally came tumbling down, she said, and the dogs dragged her into the street.
"It was awful," said Latrice Sanchez, 14, a Hamden Middle School student who lives across the street and witnessed the attack.
"They jumped on the back of her neck and knocked her down," she said, "and dragged her into the street like an alligator would."
Two neighbors, Curtis Watkins and Kenneth Lewis, grabbed baseball bats and fought the dogs off of Reed.
Reed was bleeding profusely from the back and head when firefighters, medics and officers arrived.
She was taken to the Hospital of Saint Raphael for treatment of reported serious injuries.
The child was not injured.
Police say a neighbor picked up the girl and ran inside before the child was harmed.
The dogs have been a problem for the past few weeks, Jones said. They had been loose and in the yard several times and had taken items such as soccer balls from it, she said.
"I tried to do the neighborly thing and go over there and talk to them but they wouldn't answer the door," she said. Miller, the dog's owner, came over to get them during the attack, and the dogs obeyed her command to come, Jones said.
"She told the dogs 'go home,' and they went with her," Jones said. "She never came back to see how [Reed] was."
One of the dogs is held at the North Haven Animal Shelter. The other was taken to New Haven Central Veterinary Hospital.
Police anticipate that charges will be filed against the dog's owner, Kim Miller.
The Animal control officer is investigating.
(Hartford Courant - Oct 5, 2012)