Pit bull still sought; victim improves

The pit bulls that mauled a woman last week in North Merrick may have escaped from a home in Roosevelt, but neighbors told police the dogs had never exhibited violent behavior, Nassau police said Wednesday.

The two dogs were mates, a police spokesman said, and officers shot and killed the male after the attack.

The female pit bull, which was still on the loose Wednesday, had just given birth -- which, police said, may explain its violent behavior.

Police believe they wounded that dog, described as tan with a white belly, when they shot at it in a wooded area near Ott Lane in North Merrick on Tuesday afternoon, the spokesman said.

Police have been looking for the dog in wooded areas north and south of the Southern State Parkway and east of the Meadowbrook State Parkway since Shashi Sharma, 62, was mauled by two pit bulls last Thursday.

Sharma was walking at a senior center near her home. She suffered wounds to her legs and arm.

Her condition was upgraded Wednesday to fair and stable from critical, said Shelley Lotenberg, a spokeswoman for Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow.

Police believe the pit bull they encountered twice on Tuesday is the same one involved in the attack.

"It fits the description," another police spokesman said.

Tuesday afternoon's encounter locked down five North Merrick schools and two Uniondale schools.

With Zachary R. Dowdy