‘Aggressive dog’ reappears at popular overlook on Blue Ridge Parkway, NPS says

Two “aggressive dogs” continue to elude capture at a popular overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, the National Park Service says.

One of the two was seen as recently as Monday, park officials told The Charlotte Observer on April 30. The dogs are considered a threat to visitor safety, officials said.

“The park received multiple reports of aggressive behavior involving the dogs at Waterrock Knob, and on April 18, park staff observed one of the dogs behaving aggressively toward visitors, including an incident involving two leashed dogs and a child,” park officials said in a statement.

“Based on the immediate safety risk, park rangers took action consistent with NPS regulations to protect visitors. During that response, one dog was injured, and both dogs fled the area. To reduce the risk of additional incidents and limit access to human food sources, the park also temporarily closed portions of the area while continuing efforts to ... recover the animals.”

The overlook was reopened on April 24, after nearly a week passed without a dog sighting, officials said.

But then one of them reappeared three days later, on April 27, the park said.

“We continue working with local county partners to safely remove the dog,” the NPS said. “We are also willing to work with established nonprofit animal rescue groups that are prepared to coordinate directly with park staff to retrieve the animals. If you know of any such groups, please encourage them to contact us at blri_info@nps.gov.”

Waterrock Knob is near Milepost 451.2 and has a parking area and visitor center. The summit stands at 5,820 feet in elevation and is known for providing “long-range views of several major mountain chains in the Appalachians,” the NPS says.

The overlook is about a 160-mile drive northwest from uptown Charlotte.