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TLDR; A dog that visits the dog run near me everyday has repeatedly attacked other dogs and has killed other pets in the park. Is there any way to prevent the dog’s owner from bringing their dog to the run?

Yesterday, a large dog in Washington Square Park’s dog run attacked and killed a small grey kitten brought to the park in a bag by another visitor. In a matter of seconds, the dog noticed the cat, ripped it from the partially opened backpack on its owner’s lap, and essentially decapitated it, spraying blood across the dirt. Onlookers screamed at the dog to stop and tried to grab onto her collarless scruff but it was already too late.

Bringing a cat into the dog run was a foolish mistake and there’s plenty of blame to be shared, but for many regular visitors, this was the last straw. There are plenty of highly prey-driven dogs that might go after a cat in the dog park, but this attack was particularly swift and vicious and this dog has been involved in numerous other violent incidents. In addition to breaking her leash last year to kill a giant pet rabbit in the surrounding park, she has been involved in countless spats with other large dogs where play has escalated into aggression, resulting in the other dog being injured (including at least one instance that required stitches). She has also, without any provocation or warning, abruptly attacked multiple much smaller dogs including my own 11lb. dachshund. The owner has been asked to leave by other visitors and even park police on several occasions but as far as I know, no formal action has ever been taken.

Despite what happened just yesterday, today the owner again brought her dog to the run. I spoke briefly to the park police who said that unless the dog is actively harming someone, there is nothing they or the police can do. It seems there is no oversight and no long term solution. I already plan to avoid the dog run going forward but anyone who doesn’t regularly go to this park and make a point of talking to the other visitors doesn’t have the knowledge to make the same choice. In my opinion, it is only a matter of time until this dog kills another dog.

Assuming there is general consensus among owners at the park that this dog is dangerous, is there anything we can do? Is there any oversight of NYC dog parks at all or is it truly just self-policed? If this dog does seriously maim or kill another dog, is there anything we could do then? No one wants this dog to suffer for its owners irresponsibility, but it should not be in a public park and it’s beginning to feel like there’s nothing to do except wait for another pet to be killed. Does anyone have experience with a similar situation? How did you resolve it?