The dogs, a Labrador mix and a terrier mix, were off leash in the Pine Hill Cemetery – against cemetery rules.

WEST BRIDGEWATER — Two dogs running off leash attacked a smaller dog, his owner and a bystander on Saturday afternoon at the Pine Hill Cemetery, police said.

A 79-year-old Brockton woman was walking her dog, a black Bichon mix named Cody, on the winding paths of the cemetery when the incident occurred. It's a popular spot in town for dog walkers, but anyone walking a dog there is supposed to keep it on a leash.

Just after 1 p.m. Saturday, the woman and the Bichon encountered two larger dogs in the cemetery, a female terrier mix and a male Labrador mix. Neither dog was on a leash, she later told police.

The two larger dogs attacked the Bichon and the woman. Police say they bit the woman's hand, and savaged the smaller dog. An 84-year-old Middleboro man saw the melee and tried to intervene. Police say the Labrador and the terrier bit him too.

West Bridgewater Fire Department paramedics responded to the graveyard to attend to the bites, but both people declined to be taken to the hospital, officials said.

The woman told police on Saturday that she would take her Bichon to the New England Animal Medical Center, on West Center Street in West Bridgewater.

The two aggressive dogs belong to a 57-year-old West Bridgewater man, said police Lt. Timothy Nixon. He said town records show that all the dogs are up-to-date on their vaccines, including their rabies shots.

Nixon said the man who owns the off-leash dogs was in Pine Hill Cemetery during the attack, but he was not close enough to intervene right away.

Nixon said he has been cited for two violations of West Bridgewater's dog leash law. Violating the town's leash law carries a fine of $20 for the first violation, and $50 for successive violations, but that he would not be charged with any crimes.