GREENFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — A central Indiana neighborhood that is on high alert after a series of dog attacks.
I-Team 8 first reported the concerns in June when two dogs viciously attacked a mail carrier. Since then, at least three attacks have involved the dogs housed on Stevens Court. That’s a small street ending in a cul-de-sac in a neighborhood northeast of Greenfield-Central High School.
Two postal carriers and most recently a 12-year-old boy were attacked in the middle of the day.
Amy Patterson and her 12-year-old son, Tilman, sat next to each other on the front porch of their home in Greenfield as they talked about the experience. Amy said, “It could have been much worse. We are really lucky.”
Tilman has autism and has not been far from his mother’s side since the dog attack late last week. Amy says her son was attacked while he was out for a walk, and someone intervened and stopped the attack. The boy suffered a few bites on the knee and a new fear of most dogs.
Amy knew right away where the dog lived.
“The police came out. The kids admitted the dog had gotten out. We saw them go to the side and close the gate. It had been left open,” Amy said.
Over the past several weeks, at least two mail carriers were attacked on the same street.
The dogs suspected in the attacks have been removed from their home.
The Greenfield/Hancock County Animal Management Department office provided pictures of the dogs.
I-Team 8 is told a third dog was in the house, and that animal is the one suspected of attacking Tilman.
Nate Luke lives next door and, earlier this summer, intervened when the first mail carrier was attacked. “So, I opened up the door and grabbed him by the collar. I yanked him inside and shut the door, and then called for an ambulance to make sure he was OK,” Luke said.
The second attack a few weeks later involved a woman who is a letter carrier.
Luke said, “And that happened right out in front of their yard. I didn’t witness that. I just happened to pull up as the ambulance, fire truck and the EMTs were already out there dealing with her. I didn’t walk up and get a good look, but I could see she had blood all over her.”
Following the second attack, the two dogs suspected in the attacks were taken to the Greenfield/Hancock County Animal Management Department. Later, someone broke into that facility and took the dogs.
Since the dogs are unaccounted for, the U.S. Postal Service suspended mail delivery on the street to front-door boxes.
Amy and Luke each have children who are not allowed to go near the cul-de-sac.
Amy told I-Team 8 that the third dog at the house is on quarantine for two weeks after the attack of Tilman. Since the attack, the 12-year-old is scared to leave the house,
“Even when we go on a walk and he hears a dog bark, he gets scared and comes up close to me and I have to tell him, ‘It’s OK. They are in the backyard,’” Amy said.
