Alex N. Gecan

@GeeksterTweets

TOMS RIVER - A woman and her two young sons are recovering after a dog attacked them in the East Dover section of town on Nov. 11,officials have confirmed.

The dog, a 3-year-old pit bull, has been euthanized, according to Assistant Township Attorney Anthony Merlino.

The dog seemed to have gotten loose from its owner's home near Pine Lake, Merlino said.

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"We've had no record that this dog was violent in the past or that the victims knew that it could be violent ... it appears that the dog being let out was accidental," Merlino said.

The dog got loose around 2 p.m. and attacked the family, wounding the boys so badly that they needed "an extensive number of stitches due to bite wounds, mostly in the head and neck area," Merlino said. The woman suffered wounds to her arm and, despite a neighbor intervening with a hammer, the dog did not relent until its owner called it home.

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The township seized and euthanized the dog with the owner's consent and "in accordance with the protocols mandated by the state," Merlino said. The animal was not licensed but had received its proper vaccinations.

Township medics took the family to the Community Medical Center which has since released them, Merlino said. All are expected to recover.

Merlino said the township was still looking into whether there would be criminal charges against the dog's owner but that the three victims had hired a lawyer "to represent their interests."

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Alex N. Gecan: 732-643-4043; agecan@gannettnj.com