Newtown Barge Park Dog Bite Incident Being Resolved After Owner Comes Forward

Update July 29, 2024: This piece has been updated to include a quote from a neighbor about harassment they went through.

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It was a scary situation, but it seems like it’s turning out ok.

Earlier this week, we reported that numerous signs had gone up around Newtown Barge Park asking the community to be on the lookout for a specific dog and owner. The off-leash dog bit a child at the park, leaving a deep wound that merited a trip to the ER. The child’s father put the signs up in hope that the owner might come forward and assist with the medical bills. 

Now, the child’s father tells Greenpointers that the situation is being resolved after the owner recently contacted him, leading to a new round of signage alerting the community that they no longer need to be on the lookout.

“Dog owner isn’t often at this park, and is visiting from out of town, and thanks to seeing all the off-leash dogs, allowed her own to go off-leash too,” the sign reads. “They immediately contacted me after being made aware of the signs. And they returned to the area the day after the incident in the hopes of finding us, but I hadn’t put up signs yet.”

The sign-poster said that the owner is “being exceedingly helpful.”

He also cautions neighbors against letting their dogs off-leash, an all-too common practice in our neck of the woods that runs contrary to park rules (and often, the rules of human and canine decency). We’ve written about the issue time and time again, but as a reminder, none of our local parks allow for off-leash dogs except in designated dog run areas. Transmitter Park is not a dog run area. 

A neighbor who was not involved in the incident recently reached out to Greenpointers to share a recent experience related to the situation. This neighbor implored local residents not to let their genuine concern rise to the level of vigilante justice.

“Today, my building informed me that a stranger followed me and asked them for my apartment number.

I then discovered someone had shared my location on Reddit, saying I might be involved in a dog bite incident based on the vague description on the flier. Instead of calling the number on the flier or approaching me respectfully, they shared my location publicly online. I hadn’t even heard about the dog bite incident and was not involved in any way.

This vigilante behavior crosses the line and endangers people. Other commenters also said they were either aggressively confronted or concerned about walking around because they vaguely fit the description.

It’s the father’s right to seek accountability (which I’m relieved is resolved now), but the person who followed me and doxxed me should learn a deep lesson in entitlement and safety. What they did is harassment.”

We also recently reported on a similar dog bite incident that took place at Paloma Coffee and Bakery (163 Nassau Ave.) While there are no updates on that front, Paloma recently shared an Instagram story indicating that they will be more vigilant about asking owners to leave their dogs outside.