Tim Follert took his dog Matty for a walk in West Rock State Park. Suddenly, a pit bull charged from the bushes and clamped its jaws onto the yellow lab’s neck. It seemed to be going for the kill.
With the help of some shouting, a couple of passing cyclists, and a stick, Follert was able to get the pit bull off Matty. After a $300 visit to the veterinarian, the 7‑year-old Labrador Retriever is recovering from his neck wounds.
The incident has left Follert nervous for his dog’s safety. He’s avoiding West Rock State Park for the time being. Given the pit bull’s killer instinct, Follert said, he wonders if it was a dog that had been trained to fight and then escaped to the park.
During a recent visit to Follert’s apartment in the Wintergreen complex in Westville, Matty trotted around the living room, clutching his stuffed alligator in his mouth. Pink spots showed through the shaved fur on the front and back of his neck, where the vet treated his wounds.
Matty has always been a good-natured dog, which makes it all the worse that he suffered an unwarranted attack out of nowhere. “That’s what sucks,” Follert said. “He’s just a happy go-lucky dog.”
Follert said he usually takes Matty for a walk up West Rock about three times a week. On the day in question, Thursday last week, the pair were coming back from the top at around 5:30 p.m. They were walking on the main road and approaching the main gate. Matty was on a leash.
Suddenly a brown pit bull with no collar, came rushing out of the bushes. “It went right for his neck,” Follert said. “It went for the kill.”
Matty seemed stunned and confused and didn’t fight back. Follert started shouting “Get the fuck off my dog!”
Two cyclists pulled up and jumped off their bikes. One of them may have grabbed a stick, Follert said. It all happened so fast, he couldn’t be sure.
Together Follert and the cyclists were able to drive off the pit bull. It ran a little way up the road, then stopped and started to come back for more. Follert drove it off again and it finally ran away.
It wasn’t until Follert got Matty home and took his collar off that he realized his dog had been hurt. Seeing blood on his fur, Follert realized the pit bull had broken the skin. He took Matty to the animal hospital on State Street. Three hundred dollars later, Matty had a newly shaved neck, two antibiotic prescriptions, and a fresh rabies shot. He didn’t have to have any stitches.
Is he nervous to take Matty back to West Rock Park?
“I am,” Follert said. For now, he’ll be walking Matty elsewhere.
The pit bull had no tags and no collar, Follert said. It may have simply escaped from somebody’s yard. But after seeing “the way he latched onto the neck,” Follert wondered if it might have been raised to fight.
Follert said he tried to call West Rock State Park officials and spoke with someone from the Department of Environmental Protection. He contacted New Haven animal control. He said his report about the pit bull was taken seriously, but there’s little to be done.
West Rock Park Supervisor Lori Lindquist, who works for the DEP, said on Wednesday she hasn’t heard any other reports of a pit bull in the park.
“What can they do?” Follert said last week. You can’t find a lone dog in the middle of a big state park.
“God forbid the dog goes after a kid,” he said.