Undergraduate Attacked By Dog on JFK Street

Alexander J. Spencer ’15 was attacked by a dog as he walked onto JFK Street at 3 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon.

Spencer said he was on his way to crew practice at Weld Boat House when the dog, which he identified as a pit bull, lunged at him and bit his arm.

The attack was unprovoked, according to Spencer. “I’m trying to think of a reason, because [the attack] doesn’t really make any sense,” he said.

Spencer immediately pushed the dog away as its owner pulled the animal off of him.

He received six puncture wounds from the dog’s initial bite in addition to several scrapes.

“I was in shock and there was blood all over me and all over my arm,” Spencer said.

After the attack, Spencer asked the dog owner to wait while he called the police. But Spencer said that the man, who had been soliciting money on the sidewalk with his dog, quickly packed up his belongings and left the scene.

As he called the police, Spencer walked to the nearby Harvard University Health Services, where his puncture wounds were treated.

Though UHS staff told Spencer that rabies is uncommon in Massachusetts, he received rabies shots as a precautionary measure.

Spencer received nine shots, including one directly into each puncture wound. He must return to UHS several times in the next two weeks to receive further vaccinations.

According to Spencer, the Cambridge Police Department came to the scene of the attack, but the man had left by the time they arrived.

Spencer, who is a Crimson arts writer, said that the police assured him that they will continue to look for the man and his dog.

—Staff writer Julia K. Dean can be reached at juliadean@college.harvard.edu.