Woman Fatally Mauled By Late Son's Dog On Long Island: Police

ALBERTSON, NY — A Long Island woman was killed in her backyard Wednesday after getting mauled by a dog that had belonged to her late son, according to Nassau County police.

It happened shortly after 1 p.m. in Alberston.

Police said the victim's husband left home for work earlier that morning. But when he returned to his house on Terrace Court, he saw the family's pit bull attacking his 70-year-old wife. When police arrived at the scene, the 7-year-old dog charged at the officers. One of the officers fired their gun, killing the animal.

"It was a horrific scene," Nassau Police Det. Michael Bitsko told Patch. "The husband was in shock ... and he's gonna process this for years to come."

Police have identified the victim, who was pronounced dead at the scene, as Marina Verriest.

According to Bitsko, the pit bull belonged to the husband's late step-son, who reportedly died in a motorcycle crash out East a couple of weeks ago.

It is not immediately clear if the dog always had an aggressive temperament. But police said they never received any complaints in the past about the pet, who lived under the same roof as the husband and wife.

Patch has reached out to the Nassau County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) for comment.

In an interview with Patch, SPCA President Gary Rogers called the incident a tragedy, but emphasized that fatal dog attacks are "very, very rare."

"We have not had a fatal dog attack in Nassau County in years," he said. "We don't know what set the dog off but it's a horrible thing."

Rogers added that Wednesday's tragedy should not influence how people view pit bulls, a breed frequently portrayed in media as dangerous and temperamental.

"Dogs just don't get up in the morning and say, 'gee, I'm gonna attack and kill my owner,'" said Rogers, who teaches Nassau police academy recruits about animal safety. "They don't plan that out. They don't think that."

While emphasizing how infrequent fatal dog attacks are in Nassau County, Rogers says people still need to remember that dogs are animals and if their predator-prey instinct kicks in, things can go wrong.

"Animals give you signs. And sometimes you have to assess at that point in time how you are gonna handle that growl or what that dog is doing," he explained. "Every dog has a different personality."

According to Rogers, Nassau County police are handling the investigation into Wednesday's tragic attack.

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