Woodcliff Lake Seeing Eye dog recovering after pit bull attack
Monday, July 26, 2010 BY DENISA R. SUPERVILLE The Record, STAFF WRITER
 

WOODCLIFF LAKE - A 9-month-old German Shepherd being raised as
a Seeing Eye dog was recovering at home Monday after being attacked by a pit bull.

COURTESY OF THE WOODHOUR FAMILY
Dusty, seen before the attack, had to undergo four hours of
surgery at the Park Ridge Animal Hospital to repair lacerations.
 

The dog, Dusty, had to undergo four hours of surgery at the
Park Ridge Animal Hospital on Friday to repair lacerations that extended
from his ear down his neck, said Roger Woodhour, Dusty's foster parent.

Woodhour lost the tip of his right hand middle finger in the attack.
 

Four of Dusty's teeth that were damaged during the attack had
to be extracted, Woodhour said.

Michelle Barlak, a spokeswoman for the Morristown-based The
Seeing Eye Inc., said the attack has ended Dusty's chance at becoming a Seeing Eye dog.

"Unfortunately, Dusty will never make it as a Seeing Eye dog even if he recovers, because he will not be able to overcome the psychological damage," Barlak wrote in an e-mail.

The organization breeds, raises and trains dogs to guide people who are visually impaired in the U.S. and Canada.

The attack occurred at around 8:45 a.m. on Friday, on Arcadia Road, about a block from Woodhour's home, he said.
Woodhour said was returning from his daily walk of
three-to-four-miles
with to dogs - Dusty and a 5-year-old German Shepherd named Luke - when the pit bull charged out of a Woodcliff Avenue house.
 

According to a police report of the incident, Kristine B. Heinemann left the house to put some items in a vehicle, which was parked in the driveway. The pit bull, a 2-year-old named Mason, got out through a door that apparently was ajar.
 

Mason allegedly ran toward the two dogs and started attacking Dusty, the smaller of the two, the report said.

"She was yelling at it to stop, but he was focused on one thing, and the one thing was on attacking one or possibly two of the dogs," Woodhour said.

The pit bull allegedly grabbed onto Woodhour's hand as he tried to free Dusty, knocking Woodhour onto the lawn, according to Woodhour and the report.

Contractors working on a nearby house ran to assist. One contractor ran to assist Woodhour, hitting the pit bull in the head with a hammer he was holding in an effort to free Woodhour's hand, the report said.

Mason finally let go of Woodhour's hand. Woodhour was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center.
>
> Woodhour's wife, Sheila, took Dusty to the Park Ridge Animal Hospital, Woodhour said.

In addition to the injuries to his neck, Dusty sustained injuries to the leg and head, the report said.

Heinemann was issued summonses for violating borough ordinances for failing to keep her dog on a leash and for a dog running at large. She is to appear in Municipal Court on August 19. On Monday, she said had no comment.

Mason, the pit bull, was quarantined at home, said Carol Tyler, the owner and manager of Tyco Animal Control. He was not injured in the attack, she said.

Dusty is the 26th puppy the Woodhours are raising for the Seeing Eye Inc. They have been doing so since 1991.

James Kutsch, president of Seeing Eye Inc., said it's possible, though unlikely, that Dusty could still make it as a Seeing Eye dog.

If Dusty does not succeed as a Seeing Eye dog, the Woodhours will be offered the opportunity to adopt him, Kutsch said. He could also be adopted by a member of the public.

The Woodhours have already adopted two dogs that did not make it in the program.

"We certainly would consider it," Woodhour said.
 

 

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