I’m posting this to make others aware of a serious incident that happened yesterday at the Pacific Park Dog Run with an aggressive dog and its irresponsible owner.
A group of dogs were playing with a ball. Out of nowhere, a dog became aggressive and suddenly attacked my dog. It bit down hard on my dog’s neck and would not let go.
I ran in immediately along with a few others, and one person in particular (Jared—if you see this, thank you!) stepped in and did most of the work trying to separate them. We had to physically pry the dog’s jaw open, and even then, it kept re-attaching and biting down on my dog’s neck.
Jared ended up with a seriously injured hand—bleeding heavily. Honestly, he prevented this from being much worse.
After separating the dogs, I took my dog home and cleaned my own wounds. My husband took our dog to the emergency vet where it needed a procedure to install a drain to address the neck wound, along with multiple medications.
What was most concerning: the owner of the dog that attacked did not take control of the situation. Afterward, they became verbally aggressive toward others at the park and had to be told by multiple people to leave. As you can see, the dog pictured does not have a collar with its license tag or rabies tag.
Just a reminder to everyone:
- Not all dogs belong in a high-stimulation dog park environment
- Resource guarding and reactivity can escalate very quickly
- Please be mindful and responsible—this could have ended much worse for both the dogs and the people involved
- NYC requires dogs to wear their municipal license tag (and rabies tag) on their collar at all times while in public, which includes all city park dog runs and designated off-leash areas.
If anyone has any additional info about the dog or owner, please let this community know in the comments. Feel free to DM me if you would like.
Stay safe out there.