Police seek suspect who allegedly attacked man's dog in Burlington
BOSTON – Police in Burlington are looking for a man accused of attacking a dog on a walk with her owner at Mill Pond Reservoir.
It happened Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.
A family member said the 69-year-old victim was walking with his dog Gigi when a man on a bicycle approached with two more dogs.
The dogs got into an altercation and that's when the man on the bike allegedly attacked and beat Gigi. Gigi suffered a broken jaw and nose and some of her teeth were knocked out. She's since undergone facial reconstruction surgery.
Poor Gigi! @BurlingtonPD say the amount of force used to injure this dog was “overwhelming.” A stranger on the Mill Pond Reservoir trail beat her so badly, he broke her jaw, nose and knocked out Gigi’s teeth. Her owner is OK, but shaken up. #wbz pic.twitter.com/RtauBvmAwW
— Tiffany Chan (@TiffanyWBZ) December 6, 2023
"It's certainly disturbing," said Burlington Police Chief Thomas Browne. "The amount of force that was used to cause these injuries to that dog was overwhelming."
Gigi's owner wasn't injured but was left shaken up. He and his family are now terrified to speak out in fear of retaliation from the man who attacked Gigi.
Police describe the suspect as a White man in his early 30s with an athletic build. He was riding a black mountain bike and one of his dogs was described as a beagle mix.
"I think it's very disconcerting. It's something I wouldn't expect," said Edgar Oppenheimer, who regularly goes for walks at the reservoir.
Burlington police want to find that man and are asking any witnesses to come forward.
"What we're hoping is that the person who was involved sees this and hopefully comes in and decides they want to tell their side of the story," said Browne.