Authorities are urging caution in Fairmount Park after a series of dog attacks left two men injured. In the early hours of Friday, police were called to Chamounix Drive near Ford Road following a report of an attack by vicious dogs, KYW Newsradio reports. The morning incident is part of a larger pattern, as police have linked a roaming pack of dogs to at least three separate attacks on individuals in the park.
The latest encounter resulted in a 61-year-old man being hospitalized in critical condition and a 60-year-old man suffering non-life-threatening injuries. According to PhillyVoice, one of these men was taken to Penn Presbyterian Hospital, while the other was treated at Lankenau Hospital. After an officer discharged a firearm, the pack dispersed into the woods, but only a single dog was captured initially. A second dog was seized by police late in the afternoon, however, authorities are still searching for at least four more members of the pack.
Due to the ongoing threat, the public has been advised to steer clear of the area where the dogs have been spotted. ACCT Philly has suggested the dogs were likely abandoned near the park's tennis courts, as they seem to keep returning there, 6ABC reports. Despite the danger, some residents, like Darryl Shuler, have continued their routine jogs through the park. "I'm not letting them chew me up and kill me. That ain't happening," Shuler told 6ABC, "Based on percentages, there's a zero percent chance."
