Owner of attacked dog seeking information

WILKES-BARRE – The owner of a dog that was euthanized as the result of a dog attack on Monday at the recently opened River Common park is looking for witnesses to report information to police to help identify the attacking dogs’ owners.

The owner of the deceased dog asked that his name not be used because he is a local businessman, but he provided information about the attack. At around 6:30 p.m. Monday, he said, he was walking his small-breed pet through the Northampton Street portal when he noticed traffic was slowing unexpectedly. Two dogs he described as pit bulls were running through River Street with two men chasing after them, he said.

One dog was gray and the other beige with dark spots, the man said he observed. The men had stopped their vehicles – a small, blue Chevy car and a Jeep – in the street.

“The cars were stopped. Everybody was confused. The dogs were weaving through the cars,” the man said. “I had my dog on a leash, and one of them zoomed on and locked its jaws on it and tore her apart. The other joined into the fight.”

The one man eventually came over and attempted to remove his dog by beating it with his belt but was unsuccessful. When the owner was able to get his small dog free, a woman took him to a local veterinary clinic, where the decision was made to euthanize the dog. “I made the decision because there’s no way. The legs were broken and the muscles were torn apart,” the man said.

He had asked a young woman to record the license plates of the attacking dogs’ owners’ vehicles, but no one had given that information to police when he made the report “I need somebody who saw these two cars,” the man said. “She’s 11 years old, but she’s my dog and she’s my kid’s dog.”

According to city police Sgt. Joseph Novak, officers attempted to capture the dogs but lost them somewhere around the county courthouse. They also weren’t able to find the owners’ vehicles, he said, and are waiting for leads from the public.

“At this point, there’s no active search for the animals. … If the dogs could be captured, they would be,” he said. The incident will be forwarded to animal control and health officers, he said.