Updated May 31
A woman was bitten by a dog Friday afternoon near the Black Dog Tavern in Vineyard Haven.
Tisbury Police Sgt. Christopher Habekost told The Times it appears the woman was preparing to get on a bicycle when the bite occurred.
When a Times reporter arrived on scene, a woman in a green dress hastened a large white dog up a staircase and through a door above Coastwise Packet Co. Shops on Beach Street Ext.
Tisbury Police and EMS arrived shortly afterward, and Tisbury EMS personnel treated the woman onscene and applied a bandage to her thigh. Later the woman in the green dress and the woman who was bitten could be seen hugging.
Tisbury Animal Control Officer Kate Hoffman also responded to the scene, and after spending time interviewing people with police officers, appeared to permit the woman in the green dress to drive the white dog off for quarantine, instead of placing the white dog in the animal control truck. Hoffman later told The Times the dog’s name was Ranger. Ranger was allegedly involved in another bite incident Wednesday.
In an email to The Times, another woman wrote that she was attacked while walking into the Black Dog Tavern.
“The dog blew through the flimsy screen door and charged down the stairs,” she wrote, “barking and growling. He then ran up to me and, unprovoked, bit me on the right buttocks. It was terrifying and painful.”
The woman wrote that she was treated at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.
Hoffman confirmed the woman was bitten. She said more information on the incidents will be available later in the week.
Updated with additional information.
