South Philadelphia dog owner warning others after recent attack

"I never prepared myself well enough for an attack like this," said Wei Peng.

Maggie Kent Image
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
South Philadelphia dog owner warning others after recent attack
As one man searches for the owner of a dog who attacked his Shiba Inu, Action News is learning more about what you can do to break up a dog attack.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- As one man searches for the owner of a dog who attacked his Shiba Inu, Action News is learning more about what you can do to break up a dog attack.

"Boo," the Shiba Inu, is suffering wounds and wearing an inflatable cone after he was attacked on Saturday evening.

"I really wish I was the one who got bit instead of my dog," said his owner, Wei Peng.

Peng was walking Boo and his other dog, Theo, at 25th and Mifflin streets when an off-leash dog rushed out of an athletic field towards them. It locked onto Boo's chest and leg.

"For a second I didn't think it was real," said Peng.

A Shiba Inu named "Boo" was injured during a dog attack at 25th and Mifflin streets in Philadelphia on March 18, 2023.

After two agonizing minutes, the attacking dog's owner hit it with a stick to get it off Boo.

"I said, 'You need to take responsibility. You should never let your dog off leash.' And he blamed me. He said, 'You should see my dog is coming,'" said Peng.

Peng took a picture of the man and the dog before he left the scene. Peng says he was given a fake phone number.

He wants an apology, at the least, and wants to warn others.

Wei Peng was able to capture this image after a dog attack on March 18, 2023.

"I never prepared myself well enough for an attack like this," he said.

We spoke to Dr. Lawrence Rebbecchi, a veterinarian at Philadelphia Animal Hospital. He says his office just read a new study about what to do during a dog attack.

"There's a new method to break up dog fights, it's called 'wheelbarrowing,'" said Dr. Rebbecchi. "It's grabbing the back legs of the aggressor dog and moving them away and I think it sort of stuns them in a way that may release them."

Dr. Rebbecchi says using water or making loud noises may also distract the aggressor.

It's illegal to allow your dog to walk off-leash in Philadelphia.