Merely a Pack of Wild Dogs

The best solution the authorities can offer for potential attack by wild dogs? Screaming before you’re bitten; and after you’re bitten, remaining calm.

And not caring very much if your own pet gets bitten, since it’s likely to recover.

This was an almost unbelievable comedy of negligence and heartlessness. I’m glad I got its lush absurdities on the record. It’s a kind of evidence for societal deterioration I consider of lasting usefulness.

To me, this couldn’t be more interesting and damning of the human animal in its bureaucratic form if it had been written by H.L. Mencken in his colorful 19th Century days as a young reporter in Baltimore, or by Mark Twain in his career of calling out the varieties of human foulness. I’m not equating myself with those reporters. But I do think they would have been pleased to see a journalistic lens aimed at this small fracas of the American scene, despite there being many a fracas bigger and worse.

PACK OF DOGS CAUSE LOCAL TERROR

April 28, 1987—A pack of “four vicious dogs” has been terrorizing residents of North Paerdegat Avenue for over a week, but authorities are doing little or nothing to solve the problem, according to two women who contacted The Canarsie Courier.

Gloria Palumbo and Carla Pritchard say they have contacted ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) five times and the 69th Police Precinct four times. So far, nothing has been done about the dog pack, reportedly living in a wooded area across the street from their homes, the women said Tuesday.

The women said they and other residents have been chased by the dogs repeatedly. A man who lives on the street told a reporter he had seen a jogger jump onto the hood of a car to escape the dogs. Palumbo said she had seen the pack chase a child who was riding a bicycle.

When Palumbo herself was chased, the dogs were “barking and snarling,” and she “had nightmares all night along. I’d never had that happen to me before.”

Pritchard said the pack of dogs has been sleeping in the bed of her pickup truck and has gouged the plastic liner. She has also seen the dogs sleeping in people’s yards. 

The women’s frustration with authorities seemed as real as their fear of the dogs, however. Palumbo said ASPCA keeps referring her to police, and vice versa. Officers from the 69th Precinct have come to the site four times and seen the pack each time, but claim they cannot tranquilize and capture the animals until someone has actually been bitten, according to Palumbo.

ASCAP told her to seek help from a special police unit, but police told her that unit is set up for emergencies such as suicide, according to Palumbo.

She was especially exasperated over two of the responses she claimed to have gotten from ASPCA employees. She says she was advised to get a tetanus shot in case of dog bite and not to worry if her pet is mauled, since it would probably recover from the attack.

“I can’t believe how lightly they’re treating this thing,” said Palumbo. She said authorities seem to be telling her that no action can be taken until the dog pack has injured a human or pet.

In a recent interview, George Watford, director of ASPCA’s Brooklyn operation, told  The Canarsie Courier that his crews are able to respond to loose-dog complaints in this community within 24 hours. He said the prompt response has been instrumental in keeping the problem of loose animals here to a minimum.

A dog that has gone into “attack mode” is dangerous, but sometimes it can be frightened away even then, according to George Watford, director of the ASPCA Brooklyn operation.

If the attack cannot be prevented, it can sometimes be minimized, he said. He offered the following advice and insights:

* Don’t run. That’s the worst thing you can do. The dog will almost always pursue you.

* Don’t fight back “unless you have something that’s going to be lethal.”

* Shouting helps. A woman’s scream is even more effective. It can frighten the dog, or break its concentration.

* Give the dog something to bite on—a parcel or newspaper, for example.

* Avoid eye contact with the animal. To a dog in fight mode, that’s an act of aggression.

* If all else fails, be brave. “When an attack is inevitable, it sounds silly, but the best thing to do is stay calm, even if the dog bites you once.” A bite or two might drain the dog of its fury. Resistance on you part might further provoke it.

* Most bite victims are adults, perhaps because children “are more apt to be gentle with dogs.”