Animal shelter on hold after dog bite puts city ACO out on leave

WOONSOCKET – The Woonsocket Animal Control Shelter is currently closed to visitors and is not keeping regular hours after the city’s only full-time animal control officer was injured in a dog attack on the job last month.

According to a report from the Woonsocket Police Department, Tiffany Marie Forrest, an animal control officer for the city, was severely injured when a pit bull in city custody attacked her as she was transporting it to a veterinary hospital on July 20. The pit bull had been picked up earlier that same day from a home on Social Street, where police responded after the dog and another pit bull began fighting in their owner’s apartment and could not be separated.

According to the report, the dog had already attacked one other individual that evening, owner Lisa Bennetti, who was bitten on both hands when she attempted to separate the animals. Bennetti locked the two dogs in the apartment before leaving to get help, and both Woonsocket Police and the Woonsocket Fire Department, along with Forrest, were summoned to remove them from the apartment. Forrest placed one of the dogs in her van, while the other dog, which was severely injured in the leg, was removed on a backboard by Woonsocket Fire personnel and placed in Bennetti’s mother’s vehicle.

Since both dogs were injured, the groups transported the animals separately to Ocean State Veterinary Specialists in East Greenwich. When she opened the cage to remove the dog, Forrest wrote in a report, the animal lunged at her and bit her on the right side of the forehead, causing a severe laceration. Veterinary staff came out to assist her and East Greenwich Police and Fire responded, transporting her to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment. Bennetti, the owner of the two dogs, had also been transported to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment earlier that night.

Though Forrest is recovering from her injuries, according to Woonsocket Deputy Police Chief Michael Lemoine, she is not expected to return to work until late August or early September, forcing the agency to improvise its staffing and hours. The shelter, under the oversight of the Woonsocket Police Department, is currently being staffed by police officers and city employees on an as-needed basis. Those employees, said Lemoine, are able to care for animals at the Woonsocket shelter if necessary, but until staffing has returned to normal, the employees are working with other area shelters to relocate animals or return them to their owners as quickly as possible.

“Until the animal is either rejoined with its own or placed in another facility, we are ensuring the animal is cared for at the Woonsocket shelter,” he said.

Prior to the attack, the shelter was open six days a week for visitors interested in meeting the animals or going through the process for adoption.

In addition to Forrest, a group of volunteers helped manage the shelter’s day-to-day activities, caring for the animals and taking them out for exercise.

Until Forrest returns to work, said Lemoine, the shelter is not maintaining regular hours and will work with the RISPCA and other agencies to relocate animals as quickly as possible.