Neighbor uses shovel to save boy attacked by 2 dogs in New Hampshire
By Tammy Mutasa
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MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (WBZ) — First responders say an 8-year-old child suffered serious injuries after being bitten in the arm during a vicious dog attack in Manchester, New Hampshire. Neighbors said the child was attacked by two dogs in a backyard next to a playground on Lake Avenue Wednesday afternoon.
Luckily, the attack wasn’t worse thanks to some heroic neighbors, one of whom was also bitten by the dogs.
The deep bite marks and wounds are still raw where Matthew Buchan survived the vicious dog attack trying to save the 8-year-old boy being mauled by two dogs.
“I just did what was right, that’s it,” said Buchan. “There was a kid running that way and he said, ‘the dogs got him’ and I just ran there and did what I had to do.”
It was the child’s screams echoing in his Lake Avenue neighborhood that made Matthew run to find the boy in a backyard near a playground.
Neighbors say the boy’s ball had gone over the neighbor’s fence, so the child hopped the fence to get his ball when the dogs attacked.
Neighbor hits dogs with shovel Luckily Buchan’s stepdad, Eric Harnum, was following behind and jumped into action beating the dogs with a shovel.
“I kept beating them with a shovel, beat them and beat them and beat them and beat them until they let go,” said Harnum. “My main goal was getting that kid out of there. It was rough, it brings tears to my eyes to see what happened with all the blood and bite marks and kid screaming.”
In all the commotion, neighbor Maggie Drew ran out and deployed two warning shots with her stun gun to distract the dogs.
“All of a sudden, I hear ‘help’ and I say OK today is the day,” said Drew. “See, I don’t have any kids, but I don’t want to see any child hurt.”
Finally, the heroic neighbors got the dogs away before police arrived. Matthew and the boy were rushed to the hospital.
However, Matthew doesn’t consider himself a hero. He says he was just following the Golden Rule. “Do unto others as you want done unto you,” said Matthew Buchan.
We reached out to the dogs’ owners, but they did not want to comment.
If anyone has any information on the dog attack, they are asked to call Manchester Animal Control.
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