LYNN – An early morning dog attack took place at the Cook Street Playground Wednesday, leaving a Lynn woman with a fractured hand.Animal Control officer Kevin Farnsworth said Beacon Hill Avenue resident Kathleen Clem was walking her dog, a German Shepard, in the park around 8:30 a.m. when an unidentified man and his reported pit bull lunged at the pair.”One witness said the man’s dog, that fit the description of a pit bull, bit her (Clem) on her right hand causing it to bleed and then attacked her dog,” he said. “Then the guy scooped up the dog and basically disappeared into the sunset because we haven’t been able to find him.”Farnsworth said he was at the park within minutes of receiving the call that an attack had occurred, and found several police cruisers at the scene searching for the dog and its owner.According to Lynn Police Lt. William Sharpe, off-duty officer James McIntyre happened to be in the area when he heard a woman’s screams and quickly responded.After pepper spraying the dog twice to calm it down, McIntyre said the owner then grabbed the animal and fled the area.Clem, reportedly a tenant of McIntyre’s, said she tried to pull her dog away from the aggressive animal on its leash, but when that did not work, she tried to push the two dogs apart and was bitten on her hand.Sharpe said the dog in question was wearing a red harness or a collar and was not on a leash at the time of the attack.The attack is the first in several months according to Farnsworth, who said the unusually rainy summer season could be the reason.”Oh, I’ve definitely seen worse summers,” he said. “And this past spring we had a number of incidents. Obviously this is a problem that we deal with a lot.”Farnsworth said Clem refused to be taken by ambulance to Union Hospital and went there on her own for an evaluation.Clem’s boyfriend, Thomas McIntyre, who is related to officer McIntyre, said Clem received rabies shots at Union Hospital and that she was in a lot of pain.”I believe the police know who the dog owner is and we think he lives in the same neighborhood,” he said.As of press time Wednesday, police had not located the suspect, and Farnsworth said the investigation remains ongoing.Wednesday’s attack goes hand in hand with an amendment proposed by Ward 1 City Councilor Wayne Lozzi that requires owners of dogs deemed vicious and landlords that house them, to take out a precautionary $250,000 rider insurance policy.Unanimously passed by the council Aug. 12, the amendment will take effect next month.Lozzi proposed the requirement after a Lynn schoolteacher was brutally attacked by a dog while jogging last year.A dog is only deemed vicious after a complaint is filed against a specific dog and Farnsworth rules that the dog vicious.A hearing would then be held by the Lynn Police Department to ultimately determine the dog’s status.Questions surrounding the enforceability of the amendment have been raised, since most insurance companies have blacklisted certain breeds of dogs from coverage, including Pit Bulls, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Rottweilers, Dobermans and German Shepards.