Woburn DPW workers armed with rake and broom save man and his dog from Rottweiler attack: "They were true heroes"

A Woburn, Massachusetts man and his 10-year-old Labrador named Larry are recovering after they were attacked by a Rottweiler. Tom Sheehan and Larry were walking Monday morning when he said the other dog came out of nowhere. 

Sheehan is crediting city employees for saving their lives. "If they hadn't come, there's no way I would have been able to protect him," Sheehan said.  

The duo was on their usual morning walk to Dunkin' Monday morning when Sheehan said the Rottweiler bolted across the street and started attacking them.

"I was on my own. I didn't have anything to fight the dog with," Sheehan said. "I had his collar in my hand, but he was powerful."

The dog was clasping onto Larry's neck. Sheehan had nothing to fight back with, but just in the nick of time, a Woburn DPW truck drove by and pulled over.

"The two guys got out and just got in the middle of the fray. They were armed with a broom and a rake that happened to be in the truck," Sheehan said.  

The two workers helped Sheehan free Larry from the dog's grip before the animal turned on them. "At one stage I was finally able to get into their truck and call 911, but the dog tried to get in the truck and bite me and Larry inside the truck," Sheehan said.

More than five minutes into the attack, that Rottweiler ran away. Tom, Larry and one of the DPW workers went to the hospital. Sheehan had half a dozen bites and needed 18 stitches. Larry was pretty banged up too but is on the mend.

WBZ-TV tried to reach those two DPW employees. One is still recovering, the other, we're told, is back on the job. But Sheehan says without their courage to pull over and help, this would have ended differently.

"Oh, it was game over. In retrospect Larry would have perished. Larry would have perished if those guys didn't show up and I think I would have been a lot worse off fighting the dog," Sheehan said. "They are not first responders by true definition, but they were true heroes. They really were."

Sheehan says the city has custody of that Rottweiler. It's unclear if the owners of that dog will face charges.