A Central Park bike rider says he was attacked by two vicious dogs who were not on their leashes on Friday morning. In June a duck in Central Park had to be euthanized after a dog attack. (Photo: Anthony Saint James for The New York Daily News)
In March an unleashed dog mauled another dog in Isham Park in the Inwood section of Manhattan, sparking cries from residents for greater enforcement of dog laws by the police.
In October a woman sued the city, the Parks Department and the Central Park Conservancy after colliding with an off-leash dog in Central Park and being seriously injured.
Manhattan
A bicyclist was forced to use his ride as a weapon after two dogs viciously attacked him during his daily trip in Central Park, according to the New York Daily News.
Enzo Ricciardi, 54, was cruising near Central Park West and 86th St. at about 8:30 a.m. Friday when the two dogs, who were off their leashes, sank their teeth into his legs and feet.
“I had to fight these two dogs with my bicycle,” said Ricciardi, who said he does five laps in the park every day.
“They were aggressive.”
The dogs’ owner, Melinda Pillon, eventually came over to help pull the animals away from the injured man.
“She said, ‘My dogs don’t bite,’ ” Ricciardi recalled. “I said, ‘Look at my legs. They don’t bite?’ ”
Cops arrived and cuffed Pillon at the scene, charging her with failure to have proper licenses and vaccination records and for allowing the dogs to off their leashes.
Ricciardi was treated at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
Pillon’s dogs were handed over to New York City Animal Care & Control. It was not clear if Pillon was allowed to get them back. Pillon was later released without bail.
She did not return a call for comment on Tuesday.
Ricciardi, who bikes in every day from New Jersey, said the attack left him with a new fear of dogs.
“Yesterday, I saw a dog and went to the other side of the street.”
Read More:
Enzo Ricciardi says he used his bicycle to defend himself against the animals
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