Forget cougars - and the Jersey Devil.
New Jersey wildlife officials have concluded some kind of wild dog severely wounded a South Jersey horse on Friday night.
No, not a wolf or a coyote. A member of a domesticated breed.
"We think these injuries were caused by some kind of dog, most likely a feral dog," said Darlene Yuhas, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. "There's no evidence that any other kind of animal was involved in this attack."
Buddy, a 13-year-old thoroughbred, suffered gashes on its back and had its belly ripped open while in a pasture at the Double D Ranch in Winslow Township.
"That's where most of the damage is, underneath," said Anjel Barone, 19, the pet-shop manager from Berlin who owns the horse and boards him at the ranch on Watsontown-New Freedom Road.
When she first saw Buddy after the attack, "there was a flap of skin almost two feet long hanging from his stomach area," she said.
"It's incredible he's still alive," said Capt. Michael Bartuccio of the Winslow Police.
Except for going to work over the weekend, a "frightened" and "worried" Barone said she's been staying in the barn with 14-year-old Buddy while he recuperates with the help of antibiotics and painkillers.
With no witnesses who could talk, police wondered if the predator was some kind of dog, bear or cat, and asked for help from the state Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife, Bartuccio said.
Barone said she saw large pawprints on Saturday that led her to suspect "some type of large cat that's not native to the area."
Winslow police began hearing stories of cougar sightings in nearby towns, including Waterford and Berlin, the captain said.
But Yuhas downplayed that as a possibility.
"We do get a handful of reports about cougars from year to year but none of them have ever been verified," she said.
A state wildlife expert visited the ranch yesterday, and agreed with at least two earlier state investigators that the attacker was canine, not feline.
"Because this horse was primarily injured on its belly, it seemed to us that a dog most likely caused those wounds," she said.
Until the culprit is identified and captured, though, Winslow police are advising area residents to continue to take measures to safeguard pets and livestock.