Crime & Safety

Resident Injured in Marlboro Pit Bull Attack

Alyssa D'Angelo, 23, was leaving her home one night when she was greeted by a pit bull in her driveway.

A pit bull attack in Marlboro Township left one 23-year-old resident with a sizable bite, several trips to the doctor and a fear of leaving her home, according to victim Alyssa D’Angelo. 

D’Angelo was throwing out the garbage on June 22 at her Canadian Woods Road home before getting in her car one night, when she turned around to find what she said was a growling pit bull.

"When I came back to the top of my driveway the dog was standing there, jumping from side to side and growling at me. Then it started charging at me."

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D’Angelo said she ran, for what seemed like forever, zig zagging and traveling in circles. The dog lunged, and D’Angelo said the dog caught her on the thigh.

“Thats when I started screaming, I thought I was going to die,” D’Angelo said. "I was lucky I got away, it was a pit bull and they have that bite."

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D’Angelo’s mother finally got the front door open, yanking her daughter into the home and slamming it shut behind her. But the dog wouldn’t leave, and D’Angelo needed to get to the hospital.

"It really hurts, it hurts to walk. The wound was bleeding quite a bit, it's still oozing. It's painful, aside from the fact that I'm completely shaken up. I won't leave my house at night anymore alone."

According to the Marlboro Police Department, officers arrived at the scene to control the dog and get D’Angelo to the hospital. Township Animal Control took over from there.

Three summonses were issued, according to Police Captain Bart Lombardo, for having an unlicensed dog, an unvaccinated dog and a dog at large.

Attempts to contact the dog owners were unsuccessful.

Lombardo said animal control policy dictates a 10-day quarantine in the dog owner’s home after an attack. Lombardo said if the injuries had been more severe, the dog would have been impounded at the kennel for the quarantine period.

D’Angelo said she never received proof that the dog had its vaccinations, or proof that it was licensed in the township. As a result, D’Angelo said she has gone through four rabies shots, with two more to go.

“[The shots] are incredibly painful,” she said.

Now, Lombardo said the Marlboro dog owners have given the dog away. He said he believes the dog originally came from Texas, and was only in Marlboro for a few weeks.

D’Angelo said she doesn’t know where the dog is now.

"It was an unprovoked attack, I've never been afraid of a dog in my life,” D’Angelo, who has retained a lawyer, said.


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