A 75-year-old woman was hospitalized with multiple lacerations to different parts of her body Wednesday afternoon after two dogs attacked her at a home on East Avenue in Valley Stream. Nassau County police officers responded to the residence following the report, and the woman was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
According to WABC-TV, the woman was listed in stable condition following the attack. Nassau County police have not released additional details about what led up to the incident, and the case remains under investigation, according to a police report cited by the station.
Nassau County's Emergency Service Unit responded to the scene and secured the two dogs before Town of Hempstead Animal Control officers arrived and removed the animals. Per Daily Voice, police were dispatched to the East Avenue address at 4:47 p.m. Wednesday after the call came in reporting the dog bite. The outlet notes that the Emergency Service Unit functions as a specialized tactical command built to handle high-risk emergencies, including containing aggressive animals before handing them off to municipal shelter workers.
Municipal Officers Take Custody of the Dogs
Town of Hempstead animal control officers, who serve as peace officers under Chapter 152 of the town code, are authorized to enforce dog control laws, seize dangerous animals, and transport them to the municipal shelter, according to eCode360. That authority is what allowed officers to take the two dogs into custody once the scene was secured. Under New York State public health guidelines, any dog involved in a bite incident must undergo a mandatory 10-day quarantine to monitor for rabies before any release or euthanasia decision can be finalized, per Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.
It remains unknown whether the dogs had any prior history of aggression or an existing dangerous dog designation, a detail that would matter significantly for the animals' owner. Under Section 123 of the New York Agriculture and Markets Law, an owner whose negligence leads to a bite causing serious injury faces civil penalties up to $1,500, but if the dog had previously been adjudicated dangerous, the owner could instead face a criminal misdemeanor carrying up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, according to FindLaw's summary of the statute. The same law allows any witness or municipal official to file a formal dangerous dog complaint with a local court, which must then hold a hearing within five days to decide whether the animals should be humanely euthanized or permanently confined.
Older Victims Face Higher Hospitalization Risk
The victim's age places her in a demographic that federal data shows is disproportionately affected by severe dog bite injuries. Adults 65 and older account for just 7.3 percent of emergency department visits for dog bites nationally, but they experience significantly higher rates of inpatient hospitalization than younger age groups because of heightened physical vulnerability, according to the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project.
The incident also arrives amid a broader financial reckoning around dog bite liability. New York consistently ranks among the top states nationwide for dog bite liability claims, with the average payout reaching $92,154 in 2025, per data cited by Sweet James. Nationally, total U.S. insurance payouts for dog bite and dog-related injury claims reached $1.86 billion in 2025, an 18.6 percent jump from the year before driven by rising medical costs and severe trauma cases, according to Global Law Experts.
Local Officials Have Ramped Up Animal Oversight
The attack comes months after the Town of Hempstead Town Board unanimously passed Chapter 153 of the town code in February, creating a Cat and Dog Litter Registry and penalizing unlicensed backyard breeding in an effort to combat shelter overcrowding and animal overpopulation, according to eCode360's summary of the local law. The measure reflects a heightened municipal focus on animal oversight across the township even as this week's case in Valley Stream remains an open investigation with no additional details released by Nassau County police.
