MAINE -- A 57-year-old woman was attacked by a dog Tuesday morning while she was walking along Harding Road.
The pit bull mix, which was loose outside the home where its owner lives, bit the woman on the hip, thigh and hand, according to Brunswick police Cmdr. Marc Hagan.
By the time police officers and an ambulance arrived shortly after 9 a.m., the dog had returned to its yard, Hagan said.
The woman was taken by Brunswick Rescue to Mid Coast Hospital. Her condition was unavailable Thursday.
The dog has been the subject of complaints by two previous victims, according to Hagan, but the victims in both cases would not cooperate with police or write statements, so the animal control officer was unable to address the issue.
No additional information about the dog was available Thursday.
The term “pit bull” refers to three breeds: the American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier and Staffordshire bull terrier, according to Dogsbite.org.
Police have issued summonses to the dog’s owner, Cheryl Dudley, 63, of Harding Road, but have so far been unable to serve them, Hagan said. She is charged with the civil offenses of keeping a dog at large and keeping a dangerous dog and is scheduled to appear in West Bath District Court on Sept. 6.
If the dog is found by the court to be dangerous, the owner could be fined $250 to $1,000, according to Maine statute, and the judge could order the dog be confined, muzzled or euthanized, the latter if the dog has “killed, maimed or inflicted serious injury upon a person or has a history of a prior assault or a prior finding of being a dangerous dog.”
The dog remains with Dudley and is quarantined for at least 10 days and so must remain on a leash whenever outside its residence, Hagan said. The town’s animal control officer has also filed a request for a muzzle order, which if granted would require that the dog wear a muzzle whenever it’s outside the house.
(Bangor Daily News - July 7, 2016)
