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William E. Cleary Sr. | CNBNewsnet

On the left are two American Pitbulls, and on the right is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. When it comes to appearance, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier (or American Staffordshire Terrier) is the dog breed that most closely resembles a pitbull. They are the most common dog to be mistaken for pitbull because they have a similar body and head shape and a large neck. (source https://dogfoodcare.com/)

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (Sunday, August 7, 2022)(CNBNewsnet)-This past Friday, our neighbor told us a horrific story about a woman being attacked earlier that day in the morning. 

The neighbor said he heard loud growling noises coming from East Thompson Avenue; when he looked in that direction, he saw the man who lives on that street trying to walk his three dogs on separate leashes. Actually, the dogs, who are either Pitbulls or dogs that look like the PitBull breed, are pulling him down the street, according to the neighbor. This same person who lives in a rental property has two other dogs that look the same.  In total, he has four dogs.

Our neighbor also sees a woman walking down the street at the same time heading in the same direction.

“The three dogs start to fight,” our neighbor said. “One of the dogs breaks away and runs towards the woman; before reacting, this dog bites her on her backside. As the woman tries to flee, the same dog attacks her again, biting her on her back.”

“The owner of the dogs is screaming at the two fightings and at the one who bit the unknown woman. I am screaming at him, saying get control of your dogs. For a moment, the dog who is running loose looks toward me. I am looking for something to defend myself. By this point, the owner of these vicious animals gains control of all three and walks away. I don’t know what happened to the woman. I can’t see her. I got into my car to try and find her but was unable.”  

Our neighbor reports the incident to the police department, and a  patrolman arrives at his house shortly after his call. He tells the police officer what he saw and points to the house where the owner of the animals lives. “The officer knocked on the man’s door, but when no one answered, he left and drove away. I still haven’t heard whether the owner of those dogs was cited. Neither do I know if the woman is okay.”

One of the questions that come to our mind is whether this person's dogs are inoculated for rabies. If not, the woman that was bitten could be in danger of dying.

Those of us who live in this neighborhood are well aware of these dogs and their history of attacking pedestrians and other animals. A year maybe two years ago, one of these same dogs attacked a dog owned by a former councilman biting his dog in his neck. That dog died. Another man living on Harley Avenue was going to work early in the morning when he was bitten by one of the five dogs, according to people who live on that street. 

At the time of these incidents, we talked with the person whose dog died, and they were going to let us know if they filed charges against the owner. We could not locate the man who was bitten early in the morning.

Sadly people will blame these animals for what happened on Friday and in the past. Which is wrong. It is the owner of the animals that should be held responsible. No one living in an apartment in a residential area should be keeping five dogs. It is impossible to give the dogs the proper care they deserve. Gloucester City has an ordinance on the number of dogs a person can have; the limit is three. 

As for the most recent incident, we sent an email to Gloucester City Police Lt. Jason Flood and asked if there had been any reports of a dog attack on Thompson Avenue on Friday, August 5. f we receive a response, we will update the article.

Thompson Avenue is a heavily traveled route used by children and their parents walking back and forth to the nearby Cold Springs Schools campus. If any of these violent animals ever got loose during the day when school is open, it is no telling what could happen to one of the children or pedestrians. 

We wonder, does New Jersey allow a person to kill a dog attacking them or a stranger?  We checked Google for an answer and found this video prepared by an attorney, "Can You Kill A Dog? It doesn’t address the laws in this state but suggests that you have a right to defend yourself if you are being attacked.