Update: “The owner and dog were found yesterday. The dog has been taken into a 10 day quarantine by animal control. We found out today he has a current rabies vaccine (big relief). We are uncertain what will happen after the 10days, but at present it sounds like he will be released to his prior owner (who was questioned, but not taken into custody). A concern for ongoing public safety persists. The immediate threat of the dog and rabies has been removed, but potentially only for the next 9 days.”
“Dear PoPville,
Dog Attack: Yesterday my 1.5-year-old was attacked by an unleashed pit-bull at the Park at LeDroit. Please help us find the man in the video and his dog, we need to confirm rabies is not a threat and ensure the dog is not a threat to others.
Details: ~11am yesterday a man (middle aged, African American) and his dog (white pit-bull with black spots) came to the Park at LeDroit, yelled at the Nannie’s and babies about how this was his park and then his dog attacked my son at the splash pad.
He hung around for a while, but left before police arrived. He was seen again ~1:30pm at 1st and U St NW. We do not believe this man to be mentally well, but need to help the police find him to confirm his dog does not have rabies (odds are low, but it could kill our little boy). Please help. Message me with info about where this man lives or can be found. We believe he lives in the neighborhood, potentially in the homes just northwest of the park (the direction he came from).”
There was a small back on forth about this on twitter including a police reply:
Your tweet is not accurate. MPD arrived at the park shortly after being notified of this incident, and our members interviewed all involved parties. The child sustained scratches & there has been no information provided to us that a gun was mentioned in their exchange.
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) June 15, 2022
I'm the mother of the boy who was attacked. To clarify 2 points: 1) The police came, but not as quickly as the medics (the perpetrator left before their arrival). 2) My son was bit. The bite was under his swim trunks and diaper and not discovered at the scene.
— Erin Stevens (@ErinStevensDC) June 16, 2022