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East Village Dog Owners Watch Masters as Much as Pets to Prevent Fights

By Serena Solomon | November 22, 2011 11:47am | Updated on November 22, 2011 12:11pm
Virginia Ghazarian, who was bitten by a pit bull in October 2011, plays with one of the dogs she walks.
Virginia Ghazarian, who was bitten by a pit bull in October 2011, plays with one of the dogs she walks.
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DNAinfo/Serena Solomon

EAST VILLAGE — At the popular dog run inside Tompkins Square Park, sometimes the apple doesn't fall far from the tree when it comes to dogs and their owners.

After the neighborhood experienced two vicious dog attacks in as many weeks, leading to thousands of dollars in veterinarian bills, dog owners were wary this week.

But many still found compassion for the attacking pets. They said watching an animal's owner can be as important as gauging the dog. 

“If the owner isn't right, then chances are the dog doesn't look right,” said Greg Ko, a 28-year East Village resident and owner of four-year-old beagle-border collie mix Boots.

For Ko, being proactive in protecting his dog comes down to the leash-holder's appearance.

Greg Ko's dog Boots in the Tompkins Square Park dog run.
Greg Ko's dog Boots in the Tompkins Square Park dog run.
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DNAinfo/Serena Solomon

“It’s all about the owner,” he said.

As Ko watched Boots, a group of young people he suspected were new dog owners entered the run Monday afternoon with a pit bull and rottweiler puppy.

That's when he knew it was time to leave.  

“No control. No control whatsoever,” Ko said, as he gathered Boots and left the park.

While dogs owners sheepishly dropped a few names of dog park bullies  — a beagle that instigates fights, a mutt who barks in other dogs' faces, or a 140-pound Cane Corso mastiff that is big enough to “bowl you over” — most fingers pointed to owners.

A black pit bull attacked Virginia Ghazarian, a 55-year-old neighborhood resident and dog walker, last month. Ghazarian said she suffered a bite on the hand during the Oct. 12 attack, and ended up with an infection that landed the diabetic in NYU's Downtown hospital for a day and a half.

“He [the owner] had no idea what he was doing,” Ghazarian said. “It was amazing. He had no control over the dog.”

Many pet owners in the dog run nonetheless offered compassion and understanding to the aggressive animals — but not to their owners.

“The dog fell into the wrong hands,” Ghazarian said, adding she never saw the owner or the dog again.

The owner of a beagle mix, who did want to give his name, said he, too, evaluates owners before their dogs.

“I hate to say it,” said the artist and 30-year East Village resident. “You don’t want to be judgmental.”

He added that some pet owners even appear "stoned" when in the dog park.

“Their attitude is more relaxed," he said, "which isn’t a good thing in the dog park."

As for the reputation of pit bulls, another dog owner who also did not give his name blamed the owners' lack of training in knowing how to teach and control the particular breed of dog.

“This is not a breed for a new owner,” said the East Village resident, 49, while watching his 4-year-old German Shepard.

“If you are going to have a pit bull, it is like having a loaded gun at the end of your leash."   

A regular afternoon at the Tompkins Square Park dog run.
A regular afternoon at the Tompkins Square Park dog run.
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DNAinfo/Serena Solomon