DENVER (KDVR) — The Denver Police Department is investigating a felony menacing case after a man filed a police report claiming he was threatened with a gun during a confrontation at a dog park. The victim said the confrontation started after his French Bulldogs were attacked by an aggressive dog.
Those who bring their dogs to the popular park near East 23rd Avenue and Spruce Street said attacks are not uncommon. They said all bets are off when certain dogs are thrown into the mix— described as aggressive and not properly socialized.
“We’ve seen some pretty bad fights,” a dog park visitor said Thursday. “Some really bad fights.”
On Jan. 31, a man known as “Vell,” and his girlfriend, were at the dog park with their two dogs. Vell said he noticed a man dragging his mix breed by a harness into the park.
“His dog finally came in and then immediately started attacking Licious,” Vell said.
Licious, a French Bulldog, was left cut up and bleeding after the attack.
“She’s just underneath this big old dog being attacked for no reason,” Vell said. “All she wants to do is just play.”
After Licious was thrown around, Vell said his other dog was also attacked by the same dog.
“I punched his dog off of my dog and then he [said] he’ll draw on me,” Vell said. “He said that twice. And then he said he’ll pull his gun on me the third time.”
The gun threat took the entire situation to a new level. However, no guns were pulled. Vell said he spotted the man who threatened him in the neighborhood a few days ago.
Licious is now recovering and is expected to be OK.
Social media posts show dog-on-dog attacks are not uncommon.
As far as dogs attacking people — The Problem Solvers found 51 reported dog bites in Denver between Dec. 9, 2020 and Feb. 9, 2021. During the same timeframe a year earlier, there were 74 reported cases of dogs biting people in Denver.
Dog experts say socialization is key to having a safe and enjoyable experience.