SPARTA, N.J. (WCBS 880) — A small dog was killed Wednesday night in the second bear attack to happen in a New Jersey town in just one month, according to police.
Sparta Police received a call from a town resident around midnight Thursday saying a bear may have attacked his dog around 10 p.m. Wednesday evening.
The resident, identified only as Mr. Pierce of Layton Lane, told authorities he let his 5-year-old Yorkie, Tommy, outside in the backyard but the dog never returned when he was called.
Pierce exited the home and observed bear tracks and blood in the snow before finding his dog “mortally wounded by the wood line.”
Police said Pierce immediately took Tommy to a nearby animal hospital, but veterinarians were unable to save him.
Pierce said he believed there were claw marks on the dog’s side, which caused an internal injury, ultimately causing Tommy’s death.
Investigators with Sparta Police responded to Pierce’s home and confirmed there were bear tracks and blood leading into the woods. However, they were unable to locate any bear in the vicinity.
Pierce was not injured in the incident.
The New Jersey State Fish and Game Department was notified and will conduct a follow-up investigation.
The attack follows an incident earlier this month, in which an 81-year-old woman was seriously injured while trying to save her own dog, an older English Springer Spaniel, from an attacking bear in the West Mountain area of the town.
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Sparta Police Lt. John Lamon told WCBS 880 at the time that bear attacks in the area are common and said, “Bears are creatures of habit and if they can find food, they’ll come back.”
Residents in the area are told to “always be cautious” as bears are known to roam at night.
It remains unclear if the bear that attacked Pierce’s dog is the same one that attacked the English Springer Spaniel, “but it is in the same area that a bear may consider its range.”
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