WINSLOW — A woman was injured and her puppy killed Tuesday when they were attacked by three neighborhood pit bulls, and her family is pressing charges against the dogs’ owner and wants the animals euthanized.
The three dogs broke past or jumped a fence and escaped from their backyard on Lucille Avenue, where they attacked the 10-month-old Boston terrier, ripping it from Sharron Carey’s arms when she picked it up in an attempt to save it.
Carey, 60, of Winslow, was taken to Inland Hospital in Waterville for treatment of wounds to her hands, legs and back. Her husband, Bill Carey, said Tuesday evening she was home and “very sedated.”
“She was a complete wreck,” he said. “All three dogs basically grabbed (the Boston terrier) and basically rag-dolled it, ripped it and killed it. It was horrible.”
Carey, whose voice shook with anger at times during the telephone interview, said: “I feel bad for my wife. She’s just about 100 pounds soaking wet and she walks her dog there every day. She had three full-grown pit bulls come and attack her, bite her and kill her dog right in front of her. It was a horrific scene.”
In June, a pit bull killed a 7-year-old Bangor boy who was playing in its owner’s yard in Corinna. A pit bull isn’t a breed, but a term for a variety of terrier.
On Tuesday, Sharron Carey was walking the Boston terrier, Fergie Rose, around noon on a route she took every day, when the dogs attacked, her husband said in an account similar to one in a news release from Lt. Josh Veilleux of the Winslow Police Department.
After the dogs jumped the fence, Carey said, his wife picked up Fergie Rose, but the dogs continued the attack.
“(The dogs) actually ripped her dog out of her arms and knocked her down,” he said. “They killed (Fergie Rose). We are pressing charges against the owner and we want the dogs put down. It was an unprovoked attack.”
The news release said there were two dogs, but a neighbor who saw the incident – as well as Bill Carey – said three dogs attacked. The neighbor, who didn’t want her name used, took Fergie Rose to Garland Small Animal Hospital, where it died.
Bill Carey – and the police – said several people tried to help his wife and their dog. He said they tried to beat the dogs away with sticks.
The pit bulls’ owner, Danielle Jones, also tried to get the dogs away. Police said she ran out of her house when she heard Sharron Carey screaming.
Jones is co-owner of The Muddy Paw, a grooming spa and self-service dog wash in Winslow, according to the business’s Facebook page. A message left at the business Tuesday evening was not returned immediately.
Carey said a nearby surveillance camera captured the attack on video and he hopes police will release it to the public.
Winslow Animal Control Officer Chris Martinez took the dogs to the Waterville Humane Society, where they were in quarantine Tuesday afternoon.
Carey said Fergie Rose is a hero who died protecting her owner. “She died protecting my wife,” he said. “Those dogs were intent on killing something.”
Martinez said he couldn’t comment further Tuesday afternoon on the attack, and police said no more information would be available on Tuesday. The news release said the investigation is continuing.
On June 4 in Corinna, Hunter Bragg, 7, died of “blunt and sharp force injuries” to his head and neck after an attack by a pit bull, according to the state medical examiner’s report.
The investigation into that attack is continuing, and officials involved haven’t commented on reports – including a reference on the dog bite report by the town’s animal control officer – that the dog previously had attacked other dogs.
The dog in that attack was euthanized at the request of its owner, Gary Merchant Jr., who lived at the Moody’s Mill Road home in Corinna and reportedly was given the dog by his daughter, who lives in Vermont, because it had attacked her dogs.
Staff writer Madeline St. Amour contributed to this report.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
