Two pit bulls attacked a Drexel Avenue fourth-grader on the corner of Sylvan Lane and Wilson Avenue in Westbury, last Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 3:20 p.m. The nine-year-old boy was taken to the hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries.
According to the Town of North Hempstead, the incident, which occurred just blocks away from both Drexel Avenue and St. Brigid/Our Lady of Hope School, is being charged as a criminal matter and has been turned over to the District Attorney’s office. Eileen Muntz, who lives on Sylvan Lane, was one of the first people who noticed the boy being attacked on the sidewalk by the two pit bulls. She described the event as horrifying.
“The dogs had him on the ground and his teenage brother was trying desperately to drag him up and kick away the dogs,” Muntz said, who said she ran over shrieking and stomping. “Finally a car stopped and a man opened the doors and tried to pull the boys into his car. Those dogs wouldn’t give up.”
Muntz said she then grabbed the boy’s notebook, which was lying in the snow and tried to jab at one of the dogs with it. The dogs started advancing toward her, long enough for the man to help drag the little boy into the car and close the car doors. The driver called 911. The dogs started turning their attention toward Muntz and another neighbor who had come out of her house. Muntz said she jabbed at the dog with the notebook, and was able to back into her home. Her neighbor, who owns several dogs, was able to make several moves that made the dogs back off.
Muntz said the dogs’ owner then came running down the street, calling the dogs by name, but the dogs fled. When police arrived at the scene, they pursued the two pit bulls, who were apprehended.
The boy was transported by ambulance to the hospital, where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries, including a bite on the leg.
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Both dogs belong to the same owner, who was issued appearance tickets by the Town of North Hempstead. The District Attorney’s office declined to comment on the investigation, and officials from both the town and Village of Westbury didn’t go into details about the incident, as it is an ongoing investigation. However, village mayor Peter Cavallaro said this isn’t the first time they’ve had a problem with the dogs.
“We had received other reports in the past of these dogs. [The village] has been working with the ASPCA and police department on addressing the situation,” Cavallaro said. “It’s an ongoing process taking place in regards to those dogs. It hasn’t come to completion and those dogs have been removed.”
