West Deptford Woman, Dog Injured in Pit Bull Attack

NEW JERSEY -- A dog in the Oakview section of town reportedly blew through a wooden fence, attacked a neighbor with her young child, and injured a small dog in the process.

A West Deptford woman was attacked and injured in the Oakview section of town when a neighbor's pit bull reportedly broke through a wooden privacy fence separating their properties.

Homeowner Tim Vedder said his sister Megan, her two-year-old child, and his miniature terrier, Jake, had been playing in the backyard together around 6 p.m. Sunday when neighbor Earl Breslin's dog, Bobo, crashed through the fence.

Tim Vedder said that Bobo initially attacked Jake before the terrier escaped.

Then, as the child made for the house, Vedder said his sister held up her arm to ward the dog off, and the pit bull latched on.

Police said they responded to the May Avenue property to reports of screams; Tim Vedder said it took a neighbor prying the dog's jaws open to remove it from Megan Vedder's arm.

She was transported to the hospital; the child was unharmed in the incident.

"They said she’s going to need multiple surgeries," Tim Vedder said. "They couldn’t even stitch it all up," he said doctors told them, because of a risk of infection from the dog bite.

"She has no feeling in her right hand," he said.

Jake, meanwhile, allegedly suffered a fractured leg and a bite on his neck, Tim Vedder said.

"My dog was lost for three hours after this happened," he said. "We must have had 50 people walking yards, fields, neighborhoods, looking for my dog.

"We finally found the dog underneath my dad’s bed," he said. "It couldn’t walk, it was screaming."

Animal control services reportedly confiscated Bobo Monday afternoon for a 10-day quarantine, Vedder said Monday.

That was later confirmed by a spokesperson for the county animal shelter, who said the dog was being held there.

Calls to Gloucester County Animal Control Services were being routed through press officers Monday morning.

A call to the township code enforcement officer seeking input on any citations levied as a result of the incident was not immediately returned.

(West Deptford Patch - Oct 8, 2013)