Three dogs have been captured and their owner is facing charges after the animals attacked six people while “terrorizing” a New Jersey neighbourhood, according to police.
The rampage happened on Monday afternoon in Little Egg Harbor Township, police said in a statement. Officers initially responded to a complaint that a 69-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man had suffered multiple dog bites while outside.
Officers arrived at the scene to find the three dogs menacing the entire neighbourhood, according to Little Egg Harbor Police. The trio attacked several residents while police gave chase over the course of an hour.
“None of the residents did anything to provoke those animals,” police chief Richard Buzby told NBC News.
Video recorded by one victim’s doorbell camera shows him trying to fend off the dogs using a stick. The dogs come bounding toward him across the neighbour’s lawn, and he repeatedly swings the stick to keep them at bay while he backs up from his driveway to his front door.
A police cruiser comes rolling up with its lights flashing a few seconds later, apparently spooking the dogs into running away.
The three dogs were “well-known” to law enforcement before the rampage on Monday afternoon, police said. A total of six residents were bitten on Monday, and authorities say they’ve had at least seven calls about the same dogs over the last four months.
“In total we count at least 12 bite victims, and unconfirmed reports of others,” police said in their statement.
They added that the dog owner has been given multiple summons in relation to the prior incidents. Animal control actually took the dogs away on Dec. 10, but they were later returned to the owner.
“These dogs have been nothing but a menace to this block, to this neighborhood,” local Michael Johannsen told NBC News.
“It’s a sad, sad case and I really hope that something finally happens to the owners of these dogs and to the dogs themselves, unfortunately.”
The owner did not respond to NBC’s requests for comment. A man claiming to be his brother said the dogs were friendly.
Police say the dogs have repeatedly escaped from their owner’s yard.
The animals are currently being held at a shelter ahead of a hearing for their owner on Friday.
In its statement, the police department vowed that it will do “everything in its power to ensure these dogs are never returned and allowed to menace this neighbourhood in the future.”
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