Being approached by a single, standoffish dog is scary enough, but when two or more are out roaming, the danger increases exponentially.
The pack mindset is a very strong factor in a lot of deadly dog attacks, and it’s a bit of a miracle that an incident Tuesday in Staten Island, New York, did not end far more tragically than it did.
Around 12:50 p.m. on the 200 block of York Avenue, several dogs described by locals as pit bulls attacked a 2-year-old, a 13-year-old and a 19-year-old, WABC-TV in New York reported.
According to WNBC-TV, neighbors said at least four dogs escaped and were on the street. Police later told WABC that eight dogs had been out, and a video shared by local Heaven Smith showed far more than four swirling outside her property’s fence, barking at her.
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Apparently, the dogs, a mix of adults and puppies, were able to escape the home they lived in by jumping through an open window at the back of the house and exiting the property.
They then turned their attention toward passers-by.
“And they kept going up the hill and the down the hill, and across the street,” neighbor Coralee Chandler, who was on her front porch when she heard loud barking and screaming, told WNBC.
“Some guy went up on top of the car to get away from it.”
“I was scared because and then once I seen them attack the lady, one of them reached for her ankles, grabbed her ankles then drags her,” Smith told WABC.
“She get on the floor. Then they all just start pounding on the lady and it was over.”
But thankfully the young woman survived, as did the other teen and the toddler. They were all taken to Richmond University Medical Center and are expected to make full recoveries.
Police said they believe a dog-breeding operation was going on at the home, and they took a man — whom neighbors identified as the homeowner — and a woman into custody following the attack. Charges were pending, WABC reported.
Authorities told the outlet that they ended up recovering a total of about 10 dogs from the home: six adults and four puppies. WNBC reported 15 were taken from the home, many of them puppies.
The adult dogs were taken to the Animal Care Center in Brooklyn, and the pups were taken to the Animal Care Center in Staten Island.
Neighbors said they’ve heard barking coming from the home. One said the dogs had never bothered him before.
“They don’t get on my nerves,” neighbor Deanglo Garrison said. “I come outside, I get in the car, and I go to work.”
It was certainly a mercy these dogs didn’t do more damage than they did and that they were taken off the streets before they could wreak any more havoc.
