Pit bull chews off owner's arm, hand 
 
 WILTON -- In a scene out of a horror movie, a pit bull -- apparently without provocation -- attacked its owner, tearing out one of her arms and ripping off her other hand. 
 
 The victim, Anne Murray, 56, was recovering at Norwalk Hospital, her son Matthew Murray said Tuesday. 
 
 "She's better -- she's awake now," he said. "I don't really know what happened. I just want to stay with her and get her to a full recovery." 
 
 The attack at the Murrays' 77 Range Road home happened about 11:30 a.m. Monday. Police Lt. Donald Wakeman said one passing motorist, and then another, stopped because the dog had wandered into the road. 
 
 "The first motorist found the dog to be somewhat aggressive, so she retreated to her car," Wakeman said. "And then one of the two motorists heard someone calling for help, so she called 911." 
 
 He said the dog in the street was the one that attacked Murray, who was found underneath a vehicle in her driveway, trying to fend off the animal, said Wakeman, the Wilton Police Department spokesman. 
 
 The first arriving officer, Capt. John Lynch, determined that the dog was an immediate threat to the victim and others nearby, so he shot and killed the dog, Wakeman said. The pit bull's remains will be tested for rabies at a state laboratory, officials said. 
 
 In additional to the loss of a limb and another hand, Murray had bite wounds all over her body, Wakeman said. She was brought by ambulance to Norwalk Hospital, where she was listed in stable condition. 
 
 "She lost all of her left arm and a portion of her right arm," he said. 
 
 Monday's mauling recalls the 2009 chimpanzee attack on Charla Nash, of Stamford. In that incident she was blinded and horribly mutilated; she later received a face transplant. 
 
 But the big difference between that case and Monday's dog attack is that chimpanzees, cute as they may be when they're infants, grow up to be wild animals -- muscular, temperamental and unpredictable ones at that. 
 
 Dogs, conversely, have been domesticated for tens of thousands of years, making Monday's attack all the more terrifying. 
 
 Still, pit bulls, although they have legions of admirers, have killed and maimed countless times before. The most recent pit bull death occurred last week in Kernersville, N.C., when 25-year-old Katherine Atkins was set upon by her two dogs while she was attempting to feed them. She had owned the dogs since they were puppies, Kernersville police said. 
 
 And last month, 5-year-old Jason Ryan, of Baker City, Ore., was set upon by a neighbor's pit bull. He died in the ambulance. In September, two toddlers were mauled to death by pit bulls, one in Colton, Calif., the other in Gilbert, Ariz. 
 
 No one was home at Murray's house on Tuesday, but the front yard bore the remains of what must have been a chaotic and gruesome scene. 
 
 The driveway was littered with some of the contents of the ambulance that arrived to take Murray to the hospital, including a pillow, a blanket, a blue latex glove, a blister-pack of bandages and an orange biohazard bag. 
 
 Also in the driveway was the pit bull's black nylon collar, with tags bearing his name: "Tux" -- for Tuxedo -- a name that was confirmed by police who said the animal was a 2-year-old male. 
 
 Range Road is in a neighborhood of tidy suburban homes, but the red house at number 77 has fallen on hard times. The garage door is mostly missing; a picket fence covers the opening. The electricity meter has a shut-off tag affixed to it. 
 
 On the front stoop is a large plastic tub, partially filled with water, into which a winter coat was draped. The front yard is covered in brambles and the mailbox hadn't been emptied in days. 
 
 Neighbors said they had never met Anne Murray and that the family kept to themselves. Police said she lives with her twin 26-year-old sons. 
 
 "Technically, the dog belonged to one of the sons," Wakeman said. "The sons weren't home all the time, so she took care of the dog when they weren't there. Why the dog turned on her, we don't know." 
 
 As was the case in the North Carolina tragedy, Tuxedo was part of the family since puppyhood, police said. 
 
 Wakeman said the investigation is continuing. 
 
 "At this point, we don't know whether criminal charges will be filed," he said. 
 
 jburgeson@ctpost.com; 203-330-6403; http://twitter.com/johnburgeson ||||| Pit bull likely ate owner's hands 
 
 Photo: Lindsay Perry Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 Buy photo The house at 77 Range Road in Wilton, Conn., on Tuesday, November 12, 2013, where a pit bull attacked his owner, Anne Murray, 65, on Monday. The house at 77 Range Road in Wilton, Conn., on Tuesday, November 12, 2013, where a pit bull attacked his owner, Anne Murray, 65, on Monday. Photo: Lindsay Perry Buy this photo Pit bull likely ate owner's hands 1 / 1 Back to Gallery 
 
 WILTON -- Two days after a dog bit off a woman's hand and her other arm, sources said her hands were likely eaten. And police said they had been to her home in the past for problems with the same dog. 
 
 Wilton's animal control officer had been called to the home of 56-year-old Anne Murray twice, both times on complaints that the pit bull had roamed off the property, police Lt. Don Wakeman said Wednesday. 
 
 "They determined during the contact in July that the dog was not currently licensed and a temporary license was issued," said Wakeman, the department's spokesman. 
 
 Police have also come to Murray's home several times to arrest her 26-year-old son, Ian, according to state court records. Ian Murray was given a five-year suspended sentence after he was found guilty of a 2005 robbery and conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery. He was also found guilty of violating his probation in 2010 in connection with that case. 
 
 On Monday morning, a town police officer shot and killed the dog in the driveway of the home after it attacked Anne Murray. The attack remains under investigation, Wakeman said, but he said that it likely won't result in criminal charges. 
 
 "We are looking at this as an extremely unfortunate accident," he said. 
 
 Wakeman declined to comment on whether the 2-year-old pit bull, Tuxedo, had eaten the victim's limbs, but another law enforcement source said that most of the flesh and bone the animal ripped from the victim was not recovered at the scene. "Use your imagination as to what happened," the source said. 
 
 Murray lost all of one arm and the other up to the elbow in the attack, and suffered bite wounds all over her body, police said. Passing motorists saw the dog in the street and stopped to call 911. Murray was found under a car in her driveway, trying to shield herself from further attack. 
 
 Murray is recovering from her injuries at Norwalk Hospital, where her son, Matthew Murray, said Tuesday night that she was awake and hopeful of a full recovery. Hospital spokeswoman Maura Romaine did not immediately return a reporter's call seeking an updated condition for Murray on Wednesday. 
 
 Wakeman said Wednesday morning that police have not questioned Murray about what happened, but that they plan to "when she is able." 
 
 The incident sent shock waves through the region's pet community this week. Dog owners, particularly pit bull owners, swiftly defended the breed, saying that any breed of dog can become aggressive and that incidents involving pit bulls tend to be unfairly sensationalized. 
 
 Milford resident Rob Masud said his adopted pit bull is his first dog. He said his canine companion has the "sweetest disposition," but he's still mindful of the fact that the breed is naturally muscular and energetic. He said that any potential dog owner should do research about the breed they own and should consider whether they can properly handle and care for the dog. 
 
 "I think a lot of this has to do with education," he said. "You have to use caution with any dog, of any breed. You have to exhibit proper etiquette around the dog." 
 
 The head of Murray's dog was taken to a state Department of Public Health lab in Rocky Hill to be tested for rabies. Those results were not available Wednesday morning. It wasn't immediately clear whether the pit bull's remains would be further examined. When a chimpanzee mauled Charla Nash of Stamford in 2009, the animal was brought to the University of Connecticut in Storrs, which has a bioscience lab and other facilities. 
 
 UConn spokeswoman Sheila Foran said that the lab has a "confidentiality agreement," and that she couldn't comment on whether the pit bull's remains are there.
– The Connecticut Post describes it as "a scene out of a horror movie": On Monday morning, a pit bull attacked its 56-year-old owner so savagely her left arm was ripped off; Anne Murray also lost her other arm up to the elbow, and sustained many bite wounds. More gruesome still, and a police source says most of the woman's flesh and bone weren't found after the attack, indicating they were likely eaten by the dog, reports Greenwich Time. "Use your imagination as to what happened," says the source. Drivers passing by Murray's Wilton, Conn., home apparently spotted the 2-year-old male dog, Tuxedo, in the street; one heard a cry for help, and phoned police; that marks the third time calls had been placed about the dog leaving Murray's property. Except in this case, Murray was found beneath a car in her driveway, where she was trying to take shelter from the animal. The dog was shot and killed; Murray is in the hospital in stable condition. She's unlikely to face any criminal charges, says a local police lieutenant, who calls it "an extremely unfortunate accident." He added that the dog was owned by one of Murray's adult sons, and that she cared for it when he wasn't home. "Why the dog turned on her, we don't know."