Ameechi, left, died after the attack by Mitra.
An Egg Harbor Township family is devastated after their dog was brutally killed by another dog that broke free from his leash during a walk Wednesday.
Amanda Frazier said her 17-year-old son was walking their 18-pound Maltese in LaCosta Lakes when a larger dog broke free from his leash and attacked.
Ameechi, who the family had for nine years, was killed.
The incident is under investigation by a Human Law Enforcement officer, who is trained to handle animal-related incidents, and also will consult with the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, Police Chief Fred Spano told BreakingAC.
The larger dog, an Anatolian shepherd, named Mitra, was owned by Reed's Farm off Spruce Avenue.
"We are evaluating appropriate next steps for our dog with animal welfare experts and want to support the family impacted however we can," a spokeswoman for Reed's Farm co-owner Cookie Till told BreakingAC.
Frazier said Leonard Varvaro — co-owner of Reed’s Farm — was walking the dog, but did not go after him, saying his legs hurt.
“My son has hemiplegia cerebral palsy, so the left side of his body is weak, with spastic muscles,” Frazier said. “He was trying to fight off the 140-pound dog with one arm while Lenny just stood there.”
In a Facebook post about the incident, Frazier gave a graphic telling of how her son tried to fight off the larger dog
“(Lenny) just watched and his dog ripped holes in our baby,” she wrote. “His organs were coming out and he was screaming and yelping through it all.”
Her son, Mikey, also was hurt, with a cut to his finger and abrasions on both knees.
Mitra is 4 years old and was a livestock guardian dog at Reed's, according to a January post by the farm naming him “Animal of the Month.”
“This is an isolated incident,” Till wrote in a public apology Wednesday. “Mitra has never gone after another dog and if we thought he would, we would never have had him in a neighborhood.”
But, according to at least one post, he had gone after other animals in the past.
A worker at the farm is seen in a video from 2022, posted on a trainer’s Facebook page, talking about Mitra’s past issues.
“Before he worked with Ed, he was killing chickens and was aggressive towards our animals, which is not something that we can stand for because our animals are protected here,” the woman, identified as Maddy, says as Mitra lays by her side. “He was very wiggly and didn’t listen to his commands always.”
But she said now she could work with him on a dropped leash, while “his taste for chickens has been completely averted. … He’s a completely different dog.”
Till also talks about the training in a video posted last August.
“We always knew Mitra had a sweet heart, just a little rambunctious and hard to bring him around people,” she says in the video.
An Instagram post for the dogs of Reed's Farm includes a 2022 post about Mitra going away for "doggy boot camp."
Frazier says those posts prove the owners knew Mitra was a danger, and that the prior incidents were not reported.
“It was negligent that Cookie never reported this or any of the incidents that happened on her farm with the dog killing the animals,” Frazier told BreakingAC.
She also is concerned that Till’s post says the dog will be rehomed.
“I just can’t get over the pain and suffering,” Frazier said. “I’ll never be the same after this. Nine years that dog has never left our side. My other dog has been his partner for eight years. She’s barely eating. I can’t even put into words the pain from this tragedy that could have been prevented in so many ways.”
The Reed's spokeswoman told BreakingAC that "although there was no malintent, the founder involved (Leonard Varvaro) has also decided to step down from the board."
"We are deeply distraught over the accident that took place off-property with one of our working dogs this week," said a statement emailed on Till's behalf. "We are devastated over the tragic loss of another animal’s life and for the loving family who is mourning.
"Caring for animals is a key part of our mission, so please know we are evaluating appropriate next steps for our dog with animal welfare experts and want to support the family impacted however we can," the statement continued. "While we are accepting responsibility because the dog belonged to the farm, this neither occurred on farm property nor while in farm care."
The township police chief said the investigation continues.
“We absolutely find this to be important,” Spano said. “It’s a quality of life issue for a family in our community.”
