Small dog attacked by local Mastiff in Lynbrook

For years, Robin Kurtin took her dog Reeses — named for her similar coloring to the popular chocolate-and-peanut butter candy — for walks around her home in Lynbrook, usually taking the same route. Kurtin said most people in the neighborhood knew Reeses as a friendly dog that loved people, and added that the six-year-old miniature pinscher was apart of her family. On March 16, the Kurtin’s lost a member of their family when Reeses had to be put down due to extensive injuries that she suffered after being attacked by another dog.

After a 160-pound American Mastiff got loose from its home — where construction was taking place — the dog bolted free, ran across the street and mauled 11-pound Reeses, who sustained spinal cord damage, broken and fractured ribs. Blood was found in her lungs after the incident.

“In a split second I looked, and when I went to get my dog, the other dog was on her,” Kurtin said. “The vet said it look like she had been hit by a car due to the blunt force trauma of the dog actually slamming her to the ground and going on her.”

According to Kurtin, the construction workers, who were leaving the home around 4 p.m. when the Mastiff got out, came rushing across the street to help. “I couldn’t put my hand in there because I would have been bitten,” she said, “but I did get a puncture on my wrist in the interim. I don’t even know who did that. Next thing I knew the men with work boots were around me and trying to pull the dog off of my dog.” Kurtin added that the altercation lasted about 30-40 seconds before the workers were able to pull the American Mastiff away.

Once the dogs were separated, the workers ran inside the house they were working in to retrieve a towel to stop Reeses from bleeding. One of the workers then drove Kurtin and Reeses to the East Rockaway Veterinary Hospital.