Deputy shoots pit bull threatening his partner

rock creek, oregon

A deputy shot a pit bull dog that he said lunged at his fellow deputy in the Rock Creek area Sunday, authorities said.

The deputies were responding to a complaint about vicious dogs loose in the 18900 block of NW Shadow Lane around 6 a.m. A neighbor called for help because three pit bulls were in her yard and would not let her out of her home. She told deputies that the dogs belonged to her neighbor.

A deputy who responded to the complaint said he recognized one of the dogs as a pit bull that had tried to bite him just a week earlier.

The deputies said they contacted the dogs’ owner and she came outside, but made no effort to control her dogs and one of the pit bulls began advancing on them.

“Once the dog displayed behavior that indicated he was going to attack one of the deputies, another deputy shot the dog. The pit bull reeled momentarily but resumed his advance on the deputy. The second deputy fired again and this time the dog ran off and was corralled by his owners,” said Sgt. David Thompson with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

The dog was taken to Dove Lewis Animal Hospital in Portland and was listed in stable condition.

The owner of the dog was cited for keeping a dangerous dog and the two other pit bulls were returned home.

Police shoot dog mauling Portland man

portland, oregon

Police shot and killed a pit bull that mauled a man and injured a woman in Southeast Portland Monday morning, authorities said.

Police responding to 9-1-1 calls arrived to find a dog on top of man and biting him in the area of S.E. 125th and Powell Court. An officer fired one round on the dog, which caused it to flee, police said.

“A second officer followed the dog while medical responded to check the victim,” said Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Greg Stewart. “The animal turned on the second officer and was shot again. This second shot killed the dog.”

The man who had been mauled by the dog was rushed to an area hospital with severe injuries that could be life-threatening, Stewart said. The injured woman suffered puncture wounds but did not go to the hospital.

Police have not said whether the victims were the dogs’ owners or if they had any relationship with the dogs or one another.

This incident is still under investigation. A neighbor told KGW he had never seen the dog act like that before.

Just the day before, a deputy shot a pit bull that he said lunged at his partner in the Rock Creek area of Washington County. In that incident, the pit bull survived and the dog's owner was charged with keeping a dangerous dog.

Police fire two shots into pit bull who was attempting to attack

hillsboro, oregon

Officers fired two rounds into a pit bull who was attempting to attack them early Sunday morning, police said.

A woman in the Rock Creek area called 9-1-1 to report that three pit bulls were looming in her front yard, barking at her, and preventing her from leaving her house.

　

When officers arrived, they recognized one of the dogs as one they had just dealt with the previous week. One of the officer's had taken a burglary report from the dog's owner, when the dog tried to attack the officer, but was unsuccessful, said Sgt. Dave Thompson, a spokesman for the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

This time, police were able to get a hold of the owner, but she made no attempt to corral the dog that was advancing on deputies on the other side of the street.

When the dog indicated he was going to attack, a deputy shot the dog. The dog reeled, but then advanced a second time. A second deputy then fired a shot, and this time the dog ran off and was corralled by his owners.

The pit bull was taken to Dove Lewis Animal Hospital in Portland and is currently in stable condition.

The owner of the dog was cited for keeping a Dangerous Dog.

The other two pit bulls were returned safely to their home by their owner.

Officers kill two pit bulls after boy attacked in Elgin

elgin, illinois

Elgin police officers shot and killed two loose pit bull dogs Friday afternoon after one reportedly bit a child and both threatened the responding officers themselves.

The incident occurred at 4:23 p.m. Friday at Festival Park, 132 S. Grove Ave. in Elgin.

Officers had already been tracking reports of two stray dogs on the near east side of the city when the dogs were spotted approaching the park, said Elgin police Sgt. Dennis Hood.

According to the report, a 9-year-old boy was bitten by one of the dogs. When one of the responding officers moved forward to interrupt the attack, the dog then turned from the boy and lunged toward the officer, who shot it.

The second dog then began circling the officers and lunged toward the second officer, who then shot it, said reports.

The boy was treated for minor injuries at the hospital and released, Hood said.

The dogs' owner was later identified but was nowhere near the dogs throughout the incident, Hood added.

The police report did not describe how many other people were in the park at the time.

The dogs' owner has been cooperating with police's ongoing investigation into whether any ordinances were violated, Hood said. No charges had been filed as of Sunday.

In March, Elgin councilmen enacted a new law classifying any dog that attacks another animal or human as "dangerous," triggering a number of added regulations for the owner of such an animal.

This was considered a compromise of an earlier proposal that would have automatically classified all pit bulls as dangerous and applied these regulations to their owners.

But Councilman John Prigge, who initially pushed for a grandfathered pit bull ban, vowed to be on the lookout for any further pit bull attacks in the city. He said he would renew his push for pit bull-specific laws if any occurred.

Prigge could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Some of the regulations that come with owning a dog classified as dangerous include muzzling it outside the home, building a 6-foot fence for any outdoor area where it's kept, obtaining $100,000 in liability insurance, use of a 6-foot-long leash whenever the dog is walked by a person who must be at least 18 years old and paying a $50 registration fee every three years.

2 articles about dayton ohio police shooting dogs

The ugly pit bull that attacked Delitha Tannreuther, 49, outside her Fernwood Avenue home on May 3. Tannreuther said she is now afraid to leave her home.

Police forced to shoot and kill more vicious dogs

City police officers are killing more “vicious” canines, supporting their suspicions that more dogs are illegally running loose in neighborhoods, attacking people and their pets, than in previous years.

Officers have shot 13 dogs this year — setting a pace to double the 17 dogs shot in 2008 and surge past the 20 shot in 2009, according to the department’s internal investigations reviewed by the Dayton Daily News.

Just last month, police shot and killed six dogs, the most in any month since before 2008.

A majority of the dogs are pit bulls loose in the city’s northwest neighborhoods, which is also where a majority of the city’s homicides, gang violence and drug arrests have occurred since 2008.

State law prohibits pit bulls to be let loose, gives guidelines how they must be restrained and requires owners to obtain liability insurance.

Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said pit bulls have a “direct connection with the drug culture.”

The increase of shootings coincides with an uptick of pit bulls destroyed by the county’s Animal Resource Center.

Unclaimed pit bulls are euthanized as per the center’s vicious dog policy. Last year the center euthanized 1,092 pit bulls — three a day and 160 more than in 2008, Director Mark Kumpf said.

Through April, 73 more have been destroyed than this time last year.

Since 2008, 44 internal investigations by police have cleared officers who shoot and kill dogs.

There have been 44 Dayton Police Department internal investigations of officers discharging firearms at dogs since 2008, according to a review of police records.

Officers were cleared of any wrongdoing in all cases.

Snap decisions are part of an officer’s job, but when someone’s life is in danger lethal force is the only option, said Lt. Michael Wilhelm whose officers in northwest Dayton have fired on the most dogs in the city.

“If it’s a life-threatening situation destroying the dog is the only option,” he said. “If the dog has already attacked someone and is running loose then we have other options like calling the animal shelter.”

A pack of dogs in January already had Carl Hobbs on the ground, savagely biting his arms and legs when Officer Susan Benge arrived in her police cruiser.

As she radioed for backup in the 2100 block of Litchfield Avenue, James Easterling jumped out of his SUV with a baseball bat, swinging wildly at the four pit bulls and one Rottweiler, video from her police cruiser shows.

Easterling retreated to his SUV after one of the pit bulls bit him in the leg and Benge used her cruiser to separate the dogs from Hobbs. She ended the January ordeal minutes later, shooting two pit bulls and the Rottweiler. One of the pit bulls was later euthanized.

Easterling and Hobbs were treated at local hospitals for severe bite wounds, police said.

The dogs’ owner, Michelle Orrender later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of failing to register or license the dogs, according to court records.

Pit bulls or pit bull mixes are the only breed classified as a vicious dog by the state. They must be confined in a locked pen that has a top, a locked fenced yard or other enclosure that has a top, according to state law.

While off the premises the dogs must be chained or on a leash no longer than six feet.

“We are seeing more and more loose and aggressive dogs,” Wilhelm said. “But we are seeing more packs of dogs, which, to me, seems to make them more aggressive.”

The Montgomery County Animal Resource Center, by law, cannot allow pit bull adoptions and last year put down an average of three pit bulls a day, despite the number of dogs available for adoption remaining steady.

This year that number has climbed to 3.5 pit bulls euthanized a day or 421 through April. State law requires all unclaimed, unlicensed pit bulls be killed.

The numbers suggest there are more abandoned dogs running free in the area, but why is somewhat a mystery.

“It’s hard to say if there are more strays or what might be the cause (for the increase),” said Mark Kumpf, the resource center’s director. “But there have been a lot of home foreclosures and pets often get left behind.”

Kumpf, city police and Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer said there are no signs pit bulls are being used for illegal fighting, but said they can’t rule out underground dogfighting arenas exist in the area.

“I am not seeing scars on the dogs indicating they are being used for fighting,” Kumpf said.

“And I think we’ve done a good job recently getting the message out that dogfighting will not be tolerated here.”

Kumpf backs police officers who shoot aggressive dogs, saying they need to do what is necessary to protect the public.

“I don’t think any officer draws their gun lightly and with malice,” he said. “Police officers have limited tools to deal with an aggressive dog. Dogs don’t respond to put your hands up or get on the ground.”

But Kumpf won’t shoot and neither will his 11 officers.

None of them carry guns, but instead use pepper spray, bite sticks or a “catch stick” to snare an aggressive dog. Tasers are an option but are not designed to shoot at small animals, police said.

About two weeks ago, Kumpf’s counterpart in Clark County, Jimmy Straley, was surrounded by three loose pit bulls and fell down while trying to beat the dogs off with a catch stick.

Straley got back up to run away as a pit bull lunged at his legs. The dog was shot and killed by a police officer before it could strike Straley.

“I’ve been bitten before and so have my officers, but every situation needs to be judged on the circumstances in which they occurred,” Kumpf said.

So what should you do if you encounter an aggressive dog?

“We tell people not to run away because that makes the dog chase you, and don’t ever make eye contact,” Kumpf said. “Retreat slowly and drop something like a bag or umbrella to distract the dog. There’s also training we use to tell people to act like a log. Lie down and cover your vital organs like the back of your neck with your hand and keep your face down. It works.”

Police kill pit bull, arrest man on drug and firearms charges

William Earnest McCarter
new bern, north carolina

New Bern police officers avoided a charging pit bull this week to execute a search warrant that resulted in a man’s arrest on drug and firearms charges.

Police said detectives went to the 1317 Hunters Road home of William Earnest McCarter on Thursday with warrants to search the residence. As they went in the side door of the house, the detectives were met by “an aggressive pit bull.”

“Fearing for his safety and that of the other officers at the scene,” a police report said, “the officer shot the dog in the chest area to stop the attack. The dog died at the scene.”

“No one was at home at the time of the incident,” police reported, but a search recovered a weapon, cash, and drug equipment.

McCarter, 36, returned home a short time later and was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, simple possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

McCarter was taken to the Craven County jail and was later released on $15,000 bail.

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Police shoot pit bull dog on Johnson Park Golf Course

racine, wisconsin

Racine police Friday shot and killed a pit bull terrier at the Johnson Park Golf Course.

Around 5 p.m. police responded to a call that two aggressive pit bulls were on the course at 6200 Northwestern Ave. and were preventing golfers from passing, said Racine Police Sgt. Rick Toeller.

When police arrived, one of the dogs appeared about to attack an officer who then shot it. The other dog ran away and was not recovered, Toeller said.

He said the dogs' owners could not be identified.

"They had collars but no tags," he said. "They appeared to be living in the woods a while. They had a den."

Man says police wrongly shot medical aid dog

MIKE BIRK and SNOOPY DOTT
louisville, kentucky

Police say that the incident has already been thoroughly investigated and it has been determined that officers did nothing wrong.

But it’s somewhat a case of whose story do you believe….a pet owner who says he lost his medical assistance dog, or police who say they did what they had to while responding to a call.

An attorney has now been contacted, and it’s likely that the court system could sort it all out in the futureSnoopy Dott and her owner Mike Birk were inseparable for many years, until the afternoon of April 27.

“My dog had to be put to sleep. I'm stuck with a vet bill,” said Birk. “I have bi-polar depression and that was my medical dog. It's kind of like shooting a man's seeing-eye dog.”

it's NOTHING like shooting a seeing eye dog!

Police shot Snoopy Dott multiple times while in Birk’s neighborhood looking for a fleeing burglary suspect.

A witness reportedly told police that the man ran towards Birk's house.

“They went to that house to find out more information and as they were doing so, knocking on the door, the dog was at a window barking,” LMPD Spokesperson Officer Carey Klain said.

“When I opened up my door and stepped out, they already had their guns drawn and were ready to shoot,” Birk said. “He came out aggressively towards the officers, barking and showing his teeth,” Klain said. “The officers asked the resident there to please get control of the dog and the officers began backing into the yard.”

“They hit her three times,” said Birk, who described hearing a barrage of gunfire.

Birk said his dog never attacked.

“Never, never. The whole 11 years that I've known her,” he said. “She's never attacked one person.

Birk says a hole on his porch, a shell casing and a 9 millimeter bullet are the lingering reminders of the day he had to have Snoopy Dott put to sleep.

“It has been cleared and looked into and it appeared that they followed procedures,” said Klain.

Birk now has a new aid dog, but he says his nightmares haven't stopped.

“Seeing her face when she walked into the house, she looked back at me like ‘daddy, did I do something wrong?’ and ‘I'm sorry.’”

Police say their policy allows them to use deadly force against any animals which poses a danger to an officer or the public.

Officers say that the suspect they were seeking was never found or charged.

Birk says that he has plenty of witnesses who will say the dog was not threatening anyone when she was shot, if this matter winds up in court.

look people, it is real simple. OBEY THE OFFICERS REQUESTS!

Officer shoots and kills pit bull that attacked man, dog

beaumont, texas

A Beaumont police officer shot and killed a pit bulldog after it attacked a man and his dog.

Police were called to an area near Pecos and 7th Street at about 10:30 p.m. Thursday and found a man holding down an aggressive pit bulldog.

The dog had already bitten the man and his dog.

The officer tried to help the man while waiting on animal control. The pit bull got free and once again tried to attack the man and his dog.

The officer shot and killed the pit bull.

Hastings farmer kills pit bull after attack on cow

hastings, florida

A farmer who feared for the safety of her 4-year-old boy shot and killed a pit bull Thursday, seconds after it stopped attacking one of her cows and started to charge them.

Barbara Secorsky, 41, and her child were feeding their livestock around 7:30 a.m. when they saw the black pit bull attacking one of their cows in a pasture close by.

She ran back inside her home to grab a rifle, according to the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office. When she returned to the pasture, the dog had latched onto the cow's chest.

Secorsky shouted at the dog, which released the cow and charged at her and her son, the report said. She shot the dog several times.

The dog belonged to Michael Blanton, 38, a nearby neighbor. He declined to comment.

This isn't the first time Secorsky has had to defend her livestock from Blanton's pit bull.

A St. Johns County Animal Control official said Blanton's dog was involved in an attack against Secorsky's goat earlier this month. Blanton was found guilty in a St. Johns County courtroom two weeks ago and was fined up to $500 for the attack but was still able to keep the dog, said Paul Studivant, division chief of Animal Control.

Blanton will not face charges this time. Secorsky told deputies that she would work out a settlement with Blanton outside the courtroom.

Studivant said that if the dog had not been shot and killed, it would have been confiscated anyway.

"Two attacks in one month deems the animal dangerous," he said.

Animal Control is finding that pit bulls are over-bred in the county and now fill the majority of the county's animal shelters, Studivant said.

"We used to see a lot of these dogs in the rural areas of the county, but we're starting to see them through the city now, too," Studivant said.

Studivant said there is not a common breed among the dangerous dog cases he investigates.

"For every good dog, there is a bad one, too," he said.

According to dogsbite.org, a public education website that releases research on dog attacks, six out of 10 human deaths by dog attacks in the U.S. recorded this year were by pit bulls.

Man blames police for dog's death during drug bust

KELLY WOOD, drug dealing pit nutter
robinson, texas

When police burst into a home in Robinson, in search of drugs, the owner wasn't home, but his dogs were. Robinson is about ten miles southeast of Waco.

According to police, that's when "Sissy," an adult pit bull, attacked an officer participating in the search, giving him no choice but to defend himself.

"He actually backed off a little bit and gave that dog the opportunity to come outside the house and didn't happen," said Chief Rusty Smith, of Robinson Police. "The dog charged him again and at that time he had to take the dog down."

Wanted for months on various charges by at least four local law enforcement agencies, 42-year-old Kelley Wood was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and evading arrest by Bellmead police Wednesday night.

But before he was arrested he erected a sign on the roof of his Robinson home admonishing police for killing his dog during their search. The four-foot sign was made from a bed cloth, with the spray painted words, "Robinson Police killed our Sissy for weed? Bet yall's mamas real proud."

Up for less than a day, neighbors like Karen Cromer have already taken notice.

"Well, I think that's kind of ridiculous. I mean that just brings attention to the fact that if they did have drugs in the house, that just lets the whole neighborhood know."

Cromer also sides with police regarding the incident with Wood's dog.

"I feel sorry that the dog was killed, but if the police officers were doing their job, I mean police can't stand by and have the dog attack them."

A driver who slowed to check out the strange sign said he agreed.

"If it's like a Chihuahua or something then, you know that's no need to kill the dog. But if the dog was trying to attack the officer and he feared for his life I think it's probably the right thing to do."

Robinson police say the amount of drugs they discovered during the raid will be more than enough to add even more charges for Wood.

Despite that, Chief Smith says nobody wanted to have to take a pet's life, especially the officer who pulled the trigger.

"The officer likes dogs. [He's] very sympathetic towards dogs' concerns, and the fact that he had to put the dog down was very traumatic for him, and it's still bothering him today that he had to do that."

Wood remains behind bars in the McLennan County Jail while further charges are pending.

cops shoot and kill violent pit nutter AND his ugly dog

ASHWORD CODD ba-bye
lake elsinore, california

Sheriff's deputies responding to a domestic violence report late Tuesday shot and killed a 39-year-old Lake Elsinore man and his pit bull outside the man's home, authorities said.

Ashword Codd was behaving aggressively and carried what appeared to be a gun when he came out of his Cypress Glen Court house with his pit bull, authorities said. The home is on a cul-de-sac in the Canyon Hills area.

Deputies shot the dog first, then Codd, said Sgt. Mike Lujan of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

According to a sheriff's news release, a woman had called deputies for help from a neighborhood doughnut shop shortly before midnight. The woman said that Codd -- with whom she has three children -- had assaulted her.

Sheriff's officials declined to release the woman's name, but court records show Codd has a 2008 domestic violence-related conviction for an assault involving his girlfriend, Reyna Johnston, now 35, and their young daughter.

Deputies arrived at the doughnut shop to find the woman with what appeared to be a broken nose. They went to the couple's home and called for Codd to come outside. At first, he refused, but when he did emerge from the front door he confronted the deputies "in a hostile and aggressive manner," the release said.

Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Joe Borja said Codd was holding a long lighter -- the kind used to light a fire -- as if it were a gun.

Erin McGee, 19, who lives across the street, said she heard a commotion after midnight and went to the window. She saw her neighbor with his pit bull arguing with four deputies.

"A bunch of rounds went off," McGee said. "I just dove in the hallway."

When she looked outside again, her neighbor and his dog had both been shot.

"It was horrible," she said, adding that her neighbor's body was lying in front of his house well into the morning.

McGee said the family had just moved in around Easter and that Codd seemed like a nice person. Codd had mentioned that he wanted his wife, who is a hairstylist in Orange County, to stay home more with their children, McGee said.

Investigators were still at the scene Wednesday afternoon. Yellow crime-scene tape blocked access to the couple's large two-story home. Multiple bullet holes in the stucco near the front door were visible from the street.

Lujan said the couple's three children were asleep upstairs when their father was shot.

Sheriff's officials did not release the names of the deputies involved but said they have been placed on paid administrative leave, which is routine in such circumstances.

Lujan said Codd worked at an oil refinery in the Los Angeles area. The couple had a 2-year-old boy and two girls ages 3 and 5.

According to court documents, Codd was convicted in connection with an August 2007 incident, during which he threw a cell phone at Johnston while she held their infant daughter, then grabbed Johnston by the hair. He used a knife to cut off some of her hair and in the process injured her shoulder. A month later, Johnston accused him of threatening her with a steak knife while she lay in bed with the baby, court documents show.

Codd was sentenced to 180 days in jail and three years of probation and was required to enroll in domestic violence prevention classes, court records show.

West Vincent man kills neighbor's pit bull, won't be charged

west vincent, pennsylvania

Police filed charges against a 37-year-old Chester Springs woman after her three pit bulls reportedly charged at her neighbors.

The pit bulls' charging incident caused the neighbor to shoot and kill one of the dogs; however, he does not face charges under a provision in the Pennsylvania Dog Law, according to police.

The incident occurred about 8:16 p.m. May 21 when township police officer Matthew Fredericks was dispatched to the 2200 block of Miller Road for a disturbance that involved the shooting of a dog. Upon arrival, police met resident Fred Zeitter, 46, who stated he and his wife had been in their yard planting a tree when three pit bulls, belonging to their neighbor, came running toward them.

Zeitter's wife screamed and grabbed their own dogs — two Chihuahuas and a golden retriever — and ran into her home. Zeitter proceeded to throw a rake at the neighbor's pit pulls to scare them away, according to police.

The pit bulls reportedly continued to charge at Zeitter as he ran into his home. Zeitter then grabbed his .40-caliber handgun from his deck, turned around, and as all three pit bulls were charging at him, he fired his handgun at one of the dogs, striking the dog in the head and killing it instantly, according to police. The other two pit bulls then ran away from Zeitter's home.

Through Fredericks' investigation, with the assistance of West Vincent Township Animal Control Officer Glenn Deery, it was determined that the pit bulls belonged to Zeitter's neighbor, Carey Bailey. According to a person at Bailey's residence, all three pit bulls reportedly jumped a 6-foot fence earlier that day and ran away, police said.

According to Bailey, the dogs are rescues; however, "no documentation could be produced to support that," police said.

Police filed charges under the Pennsylvania Dog Law against Bailey including three counts of harboring a dangerous dog, three counts of dogs running at large, three counts of dogs required to be licensed and three counts of vaccination required.

Prior to this incident, on May 4, Bailey was cited by Deery for alleged failure to license the same three pit bulls after the police department reportedly received numerous calls of her dogs running at large. Bailey was again cited on May 17 for dogs running at large and failure to license dogs, police said.

Zeitter was cleared of any criminal charges by the Chester County District Attorney's Office. West Vincent Police Chief Michael Swininger said that Zeitter was cleared of charges under a section of the Pennsylvania Dog Law.

"Any person may kill any dog which he sees in the act of pursuing or wounding or killing any domestic animal; wounding or killing other dogs, cats or household pets; or pursuing, wounding or attacking human beings, whether or not such dog bears the license tag required by the provisions of this act," states the law. "There shall be no liability on such persons in damages or otherwise for such killing."

Zeitter said he and his wife moved into their home about three weeks ago.

"This is our dream house; this is where we want to live when we retire," he said. "We fell in love with the home when there was about two feet of snow on the ground, so we weren't fully aware of what we were getting into."

Zeitter said he is in the process of putting a fence up around his entire property. Since the property is not completely enclosed now, he said Bailey's pit bulls were able to run around it.

Zeitter recalled the evening of the charging incident. He said was in the back yard doing some work.

"I heard barking and my wife screaming," he said.

Luckily, Zeitter said, his dogs were inside a small, gated area when the pit bulls entered his yard. Zeitter said his wife quickly grabbed their dogs and ran inside while the pit bulls continued to charge at him.

Zeitter said he does not have any young children, but he does fear for the safety of his friends and their young children who come to visit his new home.

"The pit bulls' barking sounds like werewolves," he said. "They are constantly barking."

Police shoot dog, family lawyers up

Police shoot dog after false 911 call

albuquerque, new mexico

Wednesday evening, an Albuquerque police officer shot a family's dog after getting a call about a hostage in the home.

But the man who lives there, Loren Smith, says police made a big mistake and that there were never hostages in his home.

Smith says police arrived at their side door and his stepsonís dog approached to see what was going on-- and that's when an officer with a rifle fired one shot.

Smith says the bullet went in and out of the dog's jaw hitting his leg.

"(The dogís) forearm (was) totally shattered, totally hanging by the artery because there was no arterial bleeding. He's going to lose his leg," worried Smith.

A police sergeant on the scene says police truly feared someone was being held hostage and believed the officer acted appropriately with the information they had; the officer felt threatened and shot the dog.

The sergeant said he felt bad that the dog was hurt. He is a dog lover himself and has two dogs of his own.

Meanwhile, Smith says instead of shooting his dog, police could have shut the door when the dog approached. ìThe reaction was excessive," he added.

The pit bull was rushed to a vet, but the sergeant on scene said they wanted a $500 deposit before working on the animal. The sergeant then rushed to the vet to tell staffers to start working on the animal and the city would pay for everything.

Pit bull attacks bike-riding Fairbanks boy

fairbanks, alaska

An 11-year-old boy was attacked by a pit bull while riding his bike near his home in Fairbanks on Tuesday evening, according to Alaska State Troopers.

The boy, who was not immediately named, was stabilized at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and transported to Anchorage for further treatment.

Troopers say they were called to Reliance Drive about 6:25 p.m. Tuesday to a report of a pit bull attack. They found the boy with multiple puncture wounds in his torso and legs, troopers said. The dog was still in the area.

"While troopers were responding to the scene, the pit bull became extremely aggressive and attacked the patrol car," troopers said in a statement. "The dog was killed at the scene."

The attack comes less than a week after a 3-year-old girl, Krystal Brink of Kasigluk, was killed after she wandered into a Napaskiak yard and was attacked by a chained sled dog. In response, Brink's great uncle shot and killed six of the seven dogs in the yard.

A state Department of Health and Social Services spokesman on Wednesday said that the dog's remains tested negative for rabies.

Pit bull killed after mauling pug to death

pit nutter EDRICKA COOKS
lehigh acres, florida

A pit bull was shot and killed late Tuesday by a Lee deputy who arrived as the dog mauled to death Bailey, a pug, in Lehigh Acres.

According to Lee County Domestic Animal Services and Lee County Sheriff’s Office reports:

Deputies were called about 10 p.m. Tuesday by Christopher Jijon to his house in the 2700 block of 33rd Street West who said Bailey had been mauled by a pit bull which lives nearby. Jijon used a shovel to try to stop the attack, but was not successful.

He said he’d been outside with Bailey when the pit bull ran from across the street and began mauling the pug. As a deputy arrived, he saw the pit bull with Bailey in his mouth in Jijons’ front yard.

The pit bull, believed to be named Tank, had Bailey for about 15 minutes then became aggressive to deputies who ultimately shot him. The pit ran into Jijon’s garage and went back outside where he died.

An animal control officer and deputy went to the house where the pit was believed to have lived. A woman who was outside asked what the officials wanted. They explained they needed to speak with the pit bull’s owner – whose name was given by Jijon to officials. The woman went inside, came back out a few minutes later and said the other woman/owner was sleeping.

Officials asked the woman to awaken the owner, but she refused, went back inside and no one would answer officials repeated attempts to get someone to come to the door.

Jijon had told officials there were two other pit bulls in the backyard of the house, so the deputies and an animal control officer walked around the house to the backyard. They found another male pit bull in a large homemade kennel and two cages away was a female who looked as if she had recently had puppies.

Officials tried to speak with the owner again, but no one answered. Records show the woman owns a pit bull named Tank. She had yet to be cited because officials could not contact her.

The animal control officer removed Bailey at Jijon’s request because his girlfriend was extremely upset about what had happened.

another link with video

i just do NOT understand how people can get away with ignoring the police in these cases. the police should bust the doors down and arrest both women. the owner for the dog attack and the other one for interfering with a police investigation. that is a real fucking crime.

Aggressive pit bull shot by police officer

merced, california

A pit bull was shot to death by a Merced police officer Tuesday, after the dog threatened a couple walking their dog on G Street near Sonoma Avenue, the department reported.

The incident was reported at 9:43 a.m. after the officer was in the area and saw a man and his wife walking their Chihuahua on a leash, according to Lt. Andre Matthews, police spokesman.

The officer noticed that a large, white and gray pit bull was chasing the Chihuahua, causing the smaller dog to run around the man and entangle him in the leash. The man then yelled for help, Matthews said.

As the officer approached, the pit bull turned toward him, growled and prepared to lunge at him. The officer shot the dog to prevent injury to the Chihuahua, the couple and himself, Matthews said.

Matthews said the owner of the 80-pound dog is unknown. Police are asking anyone with information about the dog to call (209) 385-6912.

Wandering pit bull killed by officers

22 yr old bimbo pit nutter RANDEE HERT

elizabeth, colorado

Elizabeth officials are reviewing the fatal shooting Sunday of a pit bull they said was aggressive with police officers after the year-old dog escaped his run.

The dog, named Bambam, was shot nine times before it died.

Police received a call shortly after noon that the dog was out of its pen and was in a neighbor's yard. Town administrator Chris LaMay said police had received two dog-at-large reports about Bambam on previous occasions.

When an Elizabeth police officer arrived at the house Sunday, Bambam was running loose in a nearby field.

LaMay said Bambam "was snarling and showing aggressive behavior" as the officer tried to corral the dog and return him to his pen.

The dog then lunged at the officer, who fired two rounds into Bambam, LaMay said.

A witness told the dog's owner, Randee Hert, who was not home at the time (they never are!), that Bambam then went into the street, where the officer fired at the dog two more times.

Bambam then hid under the front deck of Hert's home and was shot two more times, Hert said. The officer then fired another shot at him in the yard.

An Elbert County sheriff's deputy, LaMay said, fired two more shots at Bambam because the dog was suffering.

"I think those were humane shots," LaMay said.

Hert said she is struggling to cope with the loss of Bambam. She said there were paw marks in blood on the front door as Bambam tried to make it inside the house and blood and shell casings under her deck.

"An entire clip was unloaded on my dog that hurt no one," Hert said Tuesday.

LaMay confirmed that nine shots were fired, but he wasn't sure whether they all hit the dog.

LaMay did not name the officer involved in the shooting, pending the outcome of the review, which is standard with Elizabeth's use-of-force policy.

He did say the officer was not put on paid leave, as happens in investigation of fatal shootings involving humans. The Elbert County Sheriff's Office referred calls to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth does not have a pit-bull ordinance, LaMay said.

Hert said she isn't sure how Bambam got out of his chain-link kennel, which is 12 feet by 12 feet and has a 5-foot-high fence.

"He didn't hurt anybody. He didn't attack anybody," Hert said. "He was just scared."

pit nutter wasn't even there, how can she get with saying the ugly dog was scared?

Dickinson officer shoots, kills dog

dickinson, north dakota

A Dickinson Police Department officer shot a black lab several times, killing it Sunday evening after the dog showed signs of aggression, police say.

“The investigation revealed that this dog had been terrorizing the neighborhood over the past couple of days and this time they actually called,” DPD Capt. Joe Cianni said. “The dog was chasing the complainant in his own yard.” The dog was aggressive toward passersby and vehicles, he said.

Officer Thomas Grosz responded and found the dog lying in the driveway of its residence on Ninth Avenue West, Cianni said.

“The officer got out of the car and was going to approach the residence and the dog immediately took an aggressive stance toward the officer and started showing its teeth and growling, so the officer backed slowly back to his vehicle and left,” Cianni said.

Grosz went to the home of the person who called in the complaint, Cianni said.

“While he was meeting with the neighbor in front of the neighbor’s house, the dog suddenly started running toward the officer and the neighbor while growling and barking,” Cianni said.

Grosz felt he had no choice but to shoot the dog, Cianni said. Cianni did not know how many times the dog was shot but he said the dog continued to charge after being fired at. “Normally they back down,” he said. “This one apparently did not and it was making a B-line for the officer and the complainant.”

The owner of the dog, who could not be reached for comment Monday, was out of town, Cianni said.

Arrangements had reportedly been made with people to feed and water the dog.

However, the dog had apparently not been fed Sunday, Cianni said. It was in a fence but had managed to get out, he added.

“I don’t believe it had rabies,” he said, adding it had a history of aggressiveness.

The department did an investigation and determined Grosz’s actions were justified, Cianni said.

Cianni is not aware of any other time a Dickinson officer shot a dog.

The neighbor who called in the dog could not be reached Monday.

Oildale family upset by deputy's killing of dog

kern county, california

Phyllis Smith does not understand why Kern County Sheriff's deputies had to enter her property while they were responding to a call of a peace disturbance at another address. And then she heard a disturbing sound.

"I hear pop! pop!" said Smith.

A deputy pulled his gun out and shot and killed the family's 10-month-old Husky-Pit Bull mix named Deabow.

"I go, 'why did you guys shoot him' he was in his yard," she said.

At around 1:15am on May 20, deputies were dispatched to 509 1/2 Woodrow Ave. It's a small unit directly behind the Smith home at 509 Woodrow Ave.

"The deputies were making a tactical approach to 509 1/2 believing they could gain access by going through 509," said Kern County Sheriff's spokesman Senior Deputy Michael Whorf.

Turned out the easier access to 509 1/2 was through an alley, but

deputies did not know that, said Whorf.

The Smith family says when deputies went into it's back yard, Deabow and another dog instinctively reacted in a protective mode, doing what a dog is supposed to do. The family says one of the deputies then shot and killed Deabow.

"He was choking on his own blood," said Craig Hurd, another family member.

Senior Deputy Whorf says the deputies were retreating out of the yard

when they encountered the dogs.

"My understanding is the dogs charged the deputies," said Whorf.

"Whenever an officer feels in danger of great bodily injury - things of that nature, they can use force. That's appropriate to eliminate the threat," said Whorf.

But the Oildale family says deputies were in the wrong by mistakenly entering it's yard in the first place.

"The whole thing was just handled wrong. We were treated very rudely after shooting our dog," said Hurd. Hurd said he tried to take Deabow to a vet for help but says he was detained for about 20 minutes by deputies.

When he was allowed to take the dog to the vet, more bad news. The vet wanted $600 to $800 to treat Deabow. Not having the money, the family decided to put Deabow down.

"I want some body's badge over this!" said Hurd. "This is not right, man. They came into our yard," he said.

The shooting is under review by the sheriff's office.

Newport News police kill dog that tried to bite boy

newport news, virginia

Police shot a pit bull after it tried to bite a 12-year-old boy Friday night in the 4400 block of Baughman Court.

Narcotics detectives were serving a search warrant about 8:35 p.m. when a man walked by with the dog, police wrote in a news release.

Several people told the man to keep the dog closer to him, but the animal tried to bite the boy, the release says.

Detectives and officers who saw the dog try to knock the boy down and bite him then shot the dog, the release says. The dog died at the scene.

The boy was not injured, but his clothing was torn, the release says.

The man who was walking the dog was not the owner, according to police. The owner was found after the incident.

No charges have been filed as of this morning, according to the release.

Police are conducting an internal review and the officers involved will remain on duty, the release says.

Police Standoff Ends in Rockford

RICKIE C. BROWN
rockford, illinois

46-year-old Rickie C. Brown was arrested just before seven tonight. Police say he locked himself in his home in the 17-hundred block of Cumberland. Initial reports showed he was drunk, armed with a shotgun and threatening suicide. Negotiators started communicating with brown at 11:30 this morning. They got him to surrender shortly after turning off his power.

Police say when brown exited out his side door, his pit bull ran out and tried to attack them. That's when an officer shot and killed the dog.

This is actually the second pit bull to be killed by Rockford police today. Another one was shot at ten this morning in the 800 block of North Central. Authorities say moments after arresting a man on an unrelated incident, a pit bull charged after an officer and attacked. They say he had no choice but to kill it. The officer was not injured.

UPDATE loser appeared in court today and the judge raised his bail from $25K to $75 because of his previous criminal record: residential burglary, intimidation/physical harm, property damage and aggravated battery.

Man shoots two dogs on roadside

biloxi, mississippi

Police and Humane Society officials said a man who shot two stray dogs on a roadside should have called Animal Control instead of taking the matter into his own hands.

One dog died immediately and the other was so severely injured he had to be euthanized, said Jode Braxton-Hignight, Humane Society interim director.

Police charged Jonathan F. Parker of Biloxi with discharging a firearm within city limits. Parker said he was protecting family livestock.

The dogs were shot Wednesday around 8 a.m. Police arrested Parker on Lorraine Road.

Mississippi doesn’t have a felony animal-abuse law and the circumstances don’t fit the criteria for misdemeanor animal cruelty, Police Chief John Miller said.

“I don’t condone what he did,” Miller said. “If he had shot them while they were attacking his livestock, he would have been within his rights. But they were off the property and down the road. He meant to flat-out eliminate them. We have animal control officers trained to deal with these situations. He should have called us.

“Besides, you can’t just discharge a firearm in the city limits,” Miller said. “You don’t know where the rounds will go. What if they struck somebody?”

Parker said he didn’t think to call for Animal Control.

“In the past three or four months, 10 or 12 goats were killed on my grandpa’s property in the middle of the night,” he said. “I had to have my own dog put down because he was part of it. When I found them, I shot them.

“This wouldn’t have even been an issue 10 to 15 years ago. There’s a lot of animal-rights activists out there.”

Norman Robertson of Gulfport said he and his wife heard the shots and drove up as Parker was driving off.

“We talked about trying to adopt the injured dog if it survived,” Robertson said. “It sends a bad message that if you have a gun, you can get out of your vehicle and shoot dogs if you want to.”

State Sen. Billy Hewes III, R-Gulfport, recently sponsored a bill outlawing felony abuse of a dog or cat. The bill passed the Senate but died in the House

A Boy In Hospital After Dog Attack

maplesville, alabama

Randy Bartz says his neighbor's dog that is usually held behind two fences found its way out of not one but two unlatched gates on Wednesday in Maplesville. Bartz says the boxer-pit-mastiff mix was fine until he saw 11-year-old Dustin Kelly riding by on a bike.

"The owner of the dog told the boy to stop, don't move because the dog probably was going to go after him because the dog didn't like bikes, kids on the bikes."

He says what happened next frightened everyone! The dog chased the boy anyway, eventually knocked him over and clamped down on the boy's neck.

"He was really hurt, and I could blood all over his face and down his neck. I told him quick to come over here so I could look at it, and then I realized that the dog had gotten away from the owner again."

He yanked the boy over the fence to protect him while the dog's owner wrestled with the unruly canine. The child was later air-lifted to Children's Hospital.

"It was close to the jugular vein," says Fire Chief Michael Abbott, "and we did not want to take the chance of transporting by ground ambulance that far."

Maplesville Police eventually had to shoot and kill the dog. Bartz says he believes the dog could have killed the boy.

"If it weren't for the owner, it wouldn't have been good. It wouldn't have been good for that little boy at all."

At last check, Kelly was listed in good condition. Attempts to reach his parents were unsuccessful. Maplesville Police do not believe the owner of the dog was at fault. They say he always kept the dog locked up, and they believe children may have left the gate open.

Questions about lethal force surround Des Plaines dog shooting

des plaines, illinois

With dogs afforded a status approaching that of children in many American homes, the killing of a family dog by a Des Plaines police officer has raised questions from both its family and citizens about police judgment in such situations.

Bowzer, a six-year-old beagle and cocker spaniel mix, was fatally shot by a Des Plaines officer responding to a perceived domestic dispute at the home of Brian Darrey earlier this week.

The dispute turned out to be a nonissue, but the officer fired two shots at Bowzer when he and another family dog reportedly attacked the officer. The Darrey family disputes the claim.

When Andrew Darrey, Brian's 21-year-old brother, angrily confronted the officers about why the dog was shot, the officers threatened him with Tasers, he says.

The family is considering legal options. The shooting, and similar incidents around the country, call into question just how much training officers receive in such scenarios.

"There are no particular basic training requirements for animal situations. It's really up to the individual police department," said Chuck Montgomery, deputy director of training at the North East Multi-Regional Training center, a division of the Illinois Law Enforcement and Training and Standards Board.

Des Plaines Police Deputy Chief of Operations Michael Kozak said officers are trained to shoot and kill when attacked by a vicious animal. They are not trained to disable.

"We train them on tactical situations, and situations dealing with the public and dealing with the potential of an animal or a citizen trying to do harm to them," Kozak said.

Kozak said the officer who shot Bowzer has nearly three years experience with the department. An internal investigation into the incident cleared the officer of any wrongdoing.

Ultimately, it is each individual officer's judgment call how to handle such a situation.

"The only person in the living room was the officer when the two dogs charged at him," Kozak said. "Each situation stands on its merits. An officer has an absolute right to defend himself."

The last time a Des Plaines officer shot a household dog was about five years ago. Deputy Police Chief Rich Rozkuszka said it happened as officers tried to arrest a woman suspected in some residential burglaries.

"Her husband let out two pit bulls," he said. "Both of them came at me. I was able to kick off the first and the second one I killed."

Rozkuszka put three bullets into the dog, which bit into his right shin before dying.

He recalled another incident when he was first hired where police had to shoot a dog that attacked a child.

"It happens. We get attacked too," Rozkuszka said.

Randall Lockwood, senior vice president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, says the group is trying to better educate officers on how to handle situations like this.

Lockwood said officers often receive little training on using less-than-lethal weapons on animals, and virtually no training on reading dog or animal behavior.

"We realize that there are situations where animals may be used as offensive weapons, but in situations where family pets are acting defensively, there are tools officers already carry like a baton and pepper spray that can defuse a situation without lethal force," Lockwood said.

The ASPCA offers a three-hour online course on investigating animal abuse for officers through the Center for Public Safety and Justice at University of Illinois at Springfield. The course teaches officers how to recognize dog behavior, how to defuse situations without lethal force and how to use a force continuum to assess the situation.

"We recommend in our training the use of force continuum that is what you do in encounters of people, least use of force necessary to protect yourself and others," Lockwood said. "The problem is that the bar is set very low for animals, and if an officer feels they are threatened, lethal force is generally considered justifiable."

Most of the time officers are vindicated at review boards because the standards are set so low, he added.

"These incidents are becoming increasingly common, and it certainly hurts the reputation of the department and has financial consequences. We've seen lawsuits approaching a million dollars," Lockwood said.

If the Darreys can prove in court that Bowzer was no threat to the officer, they could have a case for violation of their Fourth Amendment rights as an unlawful seizure and destruction of property, according to the Animal Legal and Historical Center at Michigan State University College of Law.

2 men slain in north Minneapolis

Anton Warren
minneapolis, minnesota

Police were on the scene Friday of a suspected double homicide in north Minneapolis.

Family members identified the victims as Anton Warren, 31, and Romaze Stevens, 30.

Warren owned the home where the bodies were found on the 3300 block of Russell Avenue North. Stevens was Warren's house mate and worked with him at a north Minneapolis computer shop Warren owned.

Neighbors said that there was a late-night fight in the block, and that people were seen running through yards. Neighbor Tracie Williams said she heard six or seven shots about 1 a.m.

A visitor to the house after 9 a.m. found the two dead. Police said they had to shoot and kill Warren's pit bull in the home because the dog made it difficult for officers to move about the scene.

Warren's aunt, Tricia Edwards, said thieves had broken into his home three times recently and stole televisions. She said Warren was a deep sleeper and hadn't heard the break-ins. Police wouldn't comment on any suspected motive for the killings, but Edwards said she believes it involved another robbery.

"They need to stop all this killing," Edwards said, her voice breaking. "Please stop. It don't make no sense. It breaks my heart for my nephew to go this way."

Stevens' father, Michael Warfield, voiced some of the bewilderment expressed by both families.

"He didn't deserve to have this done to him," Warfield said. "He had friends who loved him and understood him and stood by him. I don't have any idea who would have done something like this. It's so tragic. He didn't have any enemies."

He paused, noting that he remains in shock that it's his son is in the morgue.

"I really believe it's not him," he said.

Warren grew up in Hammond, Ind., and came to Minneapolis seven years ago, said his brother, Cheque Edwards.

"He hung around with a bad crowd here," Edwards said. "He wanted to turn his life around. He was tired of being in trouble."

He received certification from Brown College and only six months ago opened Low Cost Computers on North Dowling Avenue.

Warren owned the house on Russell about two years, his brother said. He had two children on the way. Stevens also had two school-aged daughters in Harvey, Ill.

Cheque Edwards said he talked with his brother often, and there was no indication of trouble.

"Every time I talk to him I tell him, `Be careful,' that I love him," he said, "He does the same for me."

So he was blown away by the news of his brother's death.

"His past was left way behind, way behind," he said.

Pit Bull attacks officer, Pit Bull gets shot

Joseph Brock Romanowski
charles county, maryland

Joseph Brock Romanowski, to hear sheriff's deputies in Southern Maryland tell it, knew they were coming for him.

So the 35-year-old ran out back and unchained a Pit Bull, which attacked one of the officers, who shot the dog, which died a short time later, Charles County officials said in a news release Friday.

The incident began shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday, when officers received a complaint from a woman in the 2100 block of Reverdy Farm Road, Indian Head, who reported a disturbance with her boyfriend was beating her. When the first officer arrived, he saw Romanowski run toward the back yard, and the officer chased him.

Around back, in a wooded area, a fully grown Pit Bull charged him, grabbed hold of his ankle area, and tried to bite him, ripping his pants leg, Charles officials said.

The officer fell down, the dog charged again, and the officer let go at least one round, " striking the dog and disabling it," according to authorities.

The dog was taken to a nearby clinic where he died. His name reportedly was Twin, but that's unconfirmed. The officer was treated at a hospital for a wrist injury from the fall, said Diane Richardson, a spokeswoman for the Charles County Sheriff's Office. She declined to release the officer's name.

Romanowski was charged with second-degree assault. Charles officials think the dog was being trained to be enlisted in dog fights. Richardson said the investigation is continuing.

Officer Shoots Dog Searching for Gunman

atlanta, georgia

An Atlanta police officer shot and injured a dog while searching for a gunman.

Police said the dog was shot while officers were chasing an armed suspect.

Authorities were at an apartment complex in the Cleveland Avenue - Jonesboro Road area because of a report of a gun being fired Wednesday.

Officers saw the gunman and another person Thursday and gave chase.

While in someone else's yard a dog chased an officer. That's when the officer shot the dog, wounding the animal in the leg.

Police said the dog will recover.

Police have one person in custody. The gunman remains at large.

Police officer shoots at dog in Pasadena

pasadena, california

A police officer fired a shot at a pit bull Friday but apparently did not hit the animal, authorities said.

The incident occurred about 9 p.m. as police went to investigate a report of a disturbance in the 2400 block of Oswego Street, Pasadena police Lt. Tom Delgado said.

Officers walked up a driveway when a pit bull charged at them, Delgado said.

An officer fired a single shot, which apparently did not strike the dog, the lieutenant said. The dog ran off, and police and animal control officials continued searching for it late Wednesday.

No arrests resulted from the initial disturbance call, he added.

Woman shoots dog that attacked daughter

lake forest, california

A woman shot a neighbor's dog after the dog attacked her 6-year-old daughter just after 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, police said.

A 14-year-old boy heard screams from outside a home in the 22500 block of Marylhurst Court and saw a brown and white boxer grab his sister's shoulder while she was playing on the driveway with her 3-year-old sister, according to Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

A sheriff's deputy guides a 3-year old back into the house as she glances at the spot where her sister was attacked by a dog. A Lake Forest woman shot the dog after it attacked her 6-year-old daughter just after 10:30 a.m.

The boy ran to the driveway and attempted to pull his sister away from the animal, but the dog grabbed the sister biting seven times on the leg, head, shoulder and face, authorities said. The girl was treated by paramedics at the scene.

When the girl's mother, who was on the porch with her 1-year-old child, saw the dog bite her daughter she tried to get the children inside the house, Amormino said. She told police she tried to scare the dog away, but that the animal tried to lunge at the youngest child. The woman then went inside the home, got a Glock pistol and then shot the dog in the throat, Amormino said.

"I heard screams, the dog ran up the front walk, she came to the door, shot one round," said neighbor Janelle Knie.

Neighbor Lisa Horner, 44, said she was in front of her home clipping rose bushes when she heard screaming. She ran out and saw the girl being attacked, she said.

"The girl was lying in a ball and the dog was just mauling her," said Horner.

Horner said she tried to spray the dog in the eye with Windex before the mother shot it, but the dog only became more aggressive.

After the shot was fired, the dog attempted to run down the block, where deputies cornered the animal.

OC Animal Care officials said the dog was taken to a local veterinary office to be treated for a gunshot wound.

Neighbors said the dog lived in the area, but it was unclear who the owner is. Although the dog was wearing a black nylon collar, it did not have identification or a microchip, according to a spokesperson from OC Animal Care.

the dog is being reported as a pit bull mix and a boxer mix. maybe it is one of boxer mixes from lucas county?

Police shoot two pit bulls after three people are bitten

stockton, california

A police officer shot two pit bulls Sunday that moments earlier bit three people - including a 6-year-old girl who will require surgery - and killed a puppy at a home in southeast Stockton, police reported.

The girl, who suffered a broken arm and bites to her arms, legs and body, was expected to survive the attack, Lt. Theodore Montes said.

At 2:48 p.m., officers arrived at a home in the 1600 block of E. Sixth St. to a report that pit bulls were fighting. At the scene, officers saw seven dogs in a 3-foot-high, enclosed metal fence and a small crowd of people.

Officers saw two pit bulls mauling the other dogs, police said, and shot them to keep them from advancing or jumping the fence into the crowd. The wounded dogs were later euthanized.

Police believe the resident, whose name was not released, owned the pit bulls. He signed a release allowing Animal Control officers to take all of them, police said.

In addition to the 6-year-old girl, who is the dog owner's daughter, a 10-year-old boy who lived nearby was bitten on his hand, and a 28-year-old man who was babysitting the children was bitten on his ankle.

Officers still are investigating the incident.

Saginaw Township police shoot family dog while pursuing suspect

saginaw township, michigan

A family dog is recovering after it was shot in the chest once in its backyard by a Saginaw Township police officer who was looking for a fugitive at the home about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Donald F. Pussehl Jr. said.

He said officers surrounded the Ruhle family residence on Barbeau in Saginaw Township to search for a fugitive police said is dating the daughter of the homeowners. The daughter’s boyfriend fled from the scene of a traffic stop Friday night and Pussehl said the suspect is wanted for multiple warrants related to drug violations and failing to appear in court.

“He’s one of our known criminal offenders in Saginaw Township,” Pussehl said. “And this is one of the individuals, that to protect the community, we like to have him appear on his warrants and be responsible for his actions.”

Pussehl, calling the event “unfortunate,” said officers expected the suspect might try to elude police again, so they wanted to cover the rear of the home.

“The officer reports that he rattled the chain-link fence and looked around the backyard, didn’t see any dog didn’t see any indication of dogs,” Pussehl said.

He said the officer reported being in the yard for greater than a minute when “all of the sudden heard the dog growling at him and running towards him,” Pussehl said. “A larger black dog came towards him and the officer felt he was going to be bit.”

Pussehl said the officer shot three times, hitting the dog once in the chest. All of the bullets struck the ground, Pussehl said.

“We definitely didn’t want to have to shoot the dog, that’s for sure,” said Pussehl. He said the department plans to discuss the possibility of assisting the family with the veterinarian bills.

whittier, california

Pit bulls Sluggo and Pebbles slept in the bed with their owners, went trick-or-treating in costume and didn't bat an eyelid when their master's kids rode them like ponies.

They were adopted as puppies from the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority which doesn't have any record of incidents or complaints about the dogs, according to spokesman Capt. Aaron Reyes.

On April 24, Sluggo and Pebbles escaped from the back yard of their new home on Nanry Street and ended up on Mystic Street. Norwalk Station Deputy Daren Jaramillo responding to a call about a white and brown pit bull chasing people up and down the street in this unincorporated county neighborhood used his service gun to shoot Sluggo in the chest. The brown-and-white pit bull later died.

Sheriff's officials said the dog attacked Jaramillo and that the two pit bulls later attacked two other deputies.

But their version is disputed by a resident on Mystic Street who saw the entire incident. The woman, who asked that her name not be used for fear of retaliation, said the two dogs weren't lunging or attacking and were running toward the only way out of a cul de sac.

"He panicked and he pulled his gun," she said, adding that the deputy later apologized.

"He said, `I'm sorry that had to happen. I'm a dog lover too. He said the dog was coming at him," she said.

She disagreed.

Marine Staff Sgt. Nicholas Marquez, who owns Pebbles, believes Sluggo was shot and killed simply for being a pit bull. Marquez was activated and came back from Iraq in 2009.

"Neither of these dogs were aggressive. It's unfortunate pit bulls have a bad name or rep," he said. He thinks it would have been a different outcome if the call was about two golden retrievers.

"I wish they would have handled the situation differently."

He said the deputy should have waited for animal control. He has no plans to sue but he wants an apology.

Sluggo was owned by Marquez's former girlfriend, Ashley Botts, and his father, retired Deputy David Marquez who worked at Norwalk Station. David Marquez died last month. Botts didn't want to split up the dogs when she moved to Washington state so she decided Sluggo would stay in California.

Officials said the station is conducting an administrative investigation on whether Jaramillo violated policy. Their version of the shooting hasn't changed.

The investigation is ongoing.

Lt. Steve Kenny was the watch commander during the 4:05 p.m. shooting and wrote a summary of the incident. He said Jaramillo was attacked by the brown pit bull and fired one round from his Beretta 92F, hitting the dog in the chest.

The woman who witnessed the shooting said the pit bulls were earlier barking at one of her dogs which her son put inside the house. By the time two deputies arrived, the pit bulls were by her gate sniffing.

The deputy who came out of the passenger side, later identified as Jaramillo, was shaking what looked like a can of mace, she said. The dogs heard the noise of the shaking can and trotted toward the deputies.

"I think they surprised him because there's a bush there. The driver was just coming from the back of the car, (when) the passenger shot the dog. The dog was not lunging, barking or growling," she said.

Pit bulls kill family pet

dalton, georgia

When he found himself getting flanked by two pit bulldogs while two more pit bulls were attacking his daughter’s pet mixed-breed dog, Steve Bailey said he “sorta had to keep my head on a swivel.”

“I’d never seen a pack of dogs around here before,” said Bailey, a Parker Road resident near Dalton Municipal Airport. “I was mowing by the road when I saw them tearing down my neighbor’s driveway. They were heading for our gate (across the driveway), which I’d left open to get the mower out.”

Bailey said he scared the dogs away and got the gate closed but when he came out of the shower a while later heard a commotion in his front yard.

“They had (the family’s dog) Maggie down on the ground, so I grabbed a shovel off the porch and tried to get them off her,” he said. “She was already dying, and then they started getting aggressive toward me. I had to use the shovel to thrust at them.”

Bailey said he chased three of the dogs off his property in the incident that happened almost three weeks ago, but another wouldn’t leave. He called 911 and deputies came and shot the pit bull.

But it was too late for Maggie, a dog that had been part of the family for 10 years. She died at a vet’s clinic four hours later.

His wife, Amy, burst into tears when she started talking about the beloved family pet.

“I try not to call her when I come to feed them,” she said of her two remaining dogs. “But it’s just a habit.”

Sandra Arnett, 44, of 1035 Frye Road nearby, was cited on April 28 for four counts of having an animal at large, a misdemeanor, according to a Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office incident report for the day of the attack. She is scheduled to appear in Magistrate Court on June 10.

“We have four runners (leashes) and we have the underground (electric) fence where they wear the collars,” Arnett said on Monday. She was asked how the dogs broke through their safeguards.

“I’m not really sure, I was at work,” she said. “I came home and (the male dog) was gone. Everybody else was there, all the girls were there, we have three girls and a boy (dogs). So I went to look for him. I rode around the neighborhood and asked a couple of people (about the dog) and couldn’t find him. Some of the neighbors down the road had a police officer in their driveway, so I pulled up there and asked him had he been killed (and they said) the animal control guy shot him.”

Arnett was asked if the dogs had gotten out before.

“Not to my knowledge, as far as I know it was a one-time thing,” she replied. “Sometimes that happens, they’re just dogs.”

She said the dogs were “free to roam” on five acres around her home, and that the border of the acreage has the electric fence buried under it. “We’re keeping a super close eye on them (now). They have a baby-sitter now, somebody’s with them at home all the time now (with) my nephew, he’s 33 years old.”

But Brianna Evans, the Baileys’ adult daughter who was leaving Maggie with her parents, said the attack was not a one-time occurrence.

“These pit bulls were witnessed doing this,” she said in an e-mail to Sheriff Scott Chitwood on the day of the attack. “I drove around the neighborhood trying to sight the dogs (and found) another neighbor had just buried her 15-year-old dog. It was also attacked by a pack of pit bulls. Apparently, they killed ‘Teddy’ before coming in to get my Maggie.”

Amy Bailey said her neighbor did not want to talk to the newspaper about the attack on her dog.

“This all happened just 45 minutes before the school bus let out,” said Steve Bailey. “What would have happened if there were children in the area when those pit bulls got loose? We still have three children at home. We have concerns about them and other children live across the street that are in elementary school.”

He said he still hasn’t figured out how the four dogs got over his four-foot fence since he’d already shut the gate.

The sheriff’s office handles animal control duties for the county.

“(Officers) talked to all parties involved, (and) where the confusion comes in is the leash law requires for animals to be on a leash and if the owners are not there with them they have to be fenced in,” said Maj. John Gibson, who mentioned deputies have been to the neighborhood about the dogs “two or three times.”

“The law allows the owner to have the dog outside the property if the owner is there,” he explained. “At the particular time when the owner was cited the other dogs were on her property (when officers arrived) and in her control. The only other way we have to prosecute is to have people testify in court that the dogs were off the property. No one has been willing to do that (and) we can’t prosecute what we can’t see.”

Steve Bailey said he will be in Magistrate Court when Arnett makes her appearance.

“What is it going to take to get action taken on this?” Evans asked Chitwood in her e-mail. “If the dogs went into a fenced yard in a pack ... would they really stay away from small children? Remember, they were ready to attack my own stepfather, and he was a grown man with a shovel.”

Dog shot and killed; neighbors heard it all

albany, georgia

More animal cruelty takes the life of another dog in Albany this weekend. Albany police responded to 1707 Spruce Lane after someone had found a dog lying in the yard.

Police say someone shot and killed the dog around 10:30 Saturday night. One witness who lives at the address where the dog was found says it appeared to be a Pit Bull that did not have a collar. A teenager and his cousin across the street say they heard several gunshots.

"I was washing dishes in my grandma's house and I heard three gunshots and I just heard a dog start crying so I looked out the blinds and it seemed like it was coming from down the street but I guess the dog ran back to the lady's yard," said Devontay Turner.

Police have no suspects at this time. It's unclear if the dog had an owner.

police officer fatally shot a pit bull

fort worth, texas

A Fort Worth police officer fatally shot a pit bull after the dog charged at him Friday night in the 3500 block of Northeast 28th Street, police said.

About 8:45 p.m. the officer responded to a report of a "pit bull mix" lying in the eastbound lanes of 28th Street. The officer walked around the rear of his patrol car, then approached alongside the passenger side. The dog barked aggressively and started to charge.

The officer backed up to the rear of his car, but the dog continued charging. When the dog was within 10 feet, "the officer fired once, striking the pit bull and stopping its forward attack," Fort Worth police Sgt. Chad Mahaffey said. A report listed no owner for the dog.

Mahaffey urged residents to restrain their animals.

"Having an unrestrained animal is against the law and can be a threat to our citizens and place our public safety professionals in danger," he said. -- Darren Barbee

Trooper Shoots Pit Bull Attacking Child

pit nutter says the dog is normally friendly.

boston, massachusetts

An off-duty state trooper shot a pit bull Saturday afternoon that was attacking a 12-year-old boy in his Hyde Park neighborhood, State Police said.

The trooper was on the front porch of his home on Ellis Street when he and his wife saw the dog attack the boy while the boy was on the sidewalk.

The trooper tried to separate the dog from the boy, police said, but was unable to do so. He then fired his handgun, striking the dog and causing it to release the boy, police said.

The boy was taken to Carney Hospital with injuries to his arms and legs.

State Police said their preliminary investigation indicates the trooper fired his weapon to prevent more serious or even fatal injury to the boy.

The dog was taken from the scene by an unidentified woman and its whereabouts are not known.

UPDATE - PREVIOUS BITE RECORD - DIRT NAP!

An owner of a wounded pit bull who mauled a Hyde Park child defended his pet yesterday as an excitable puppy who didn’t deserve to take a bullet from a cop.

“We’re sorry this happened. He’s just a happy dog. He’s not vicious. He thinks he’s one of the kids,” said Deshawn Johnson, 22.

The pit bull, 10-month-old Kano, turned up alive last night at a Weymouth veterinarian’s office and was quarantined by Boston police. Authorities had been looking for the dog after it attacked 12-year-old Terrell Owens on Saturday.

Johnson, who claimed he had no idea where Kano ran to after the mauling, suspects children playing at a birthday party at his aunt Cochisa “Coco” Toney’s home on Ellis Street may have opened a gate in the back yard and turned Kano loose. Neighbor Owens was seated on the front steps nearby when he was bitten.

“It’s unfortunate,” Johnson said. “I just wish he’d had his muzzle on.”

In addition to no “Beware of Dog” sign, as mandated by the city’s pit bull ordinance, a stockade fence behind the triple-decker was missing slats. And it turns out, Kano bit a 6-year-old during another birthday bash last month.

Boston police spokesman Officer Eddy Chrispin said the “same dog” attacked on April 7 during a party attended by 10 to 15 kids. Investigators filed a child abuse report.

Johnson said the victim was his nephew, who was bitten on the inner thigh when the child scratched Kano’s face.

Owens, whose injured forearms remained bandaged yesterday, said he and his mother Jacqueline Daughtry yesterday brought flowers to the state trooper who saved him and the officer’s wife.

“My mom felt like she owed him,” the Gavin Middle School sixth-grader said with a shy smile.

Owens said he didn’t see Kano charging him until he was inches away, and when he tried to jump a fence to get away, the dog latched onto his foot.

“I punched him. That’s when he started going after my arms,” Owens said. “I didn’t think it was going to stop, but then the state trooper saved me. He tried to (pull) the dog off me, but couldn’t.”

State police spokesman David Procopio said if not for the off-duty trooper sitting out on his front porch, Owens could easily have been killed.

Procopio declined to identify the trooper while the investigation into the discharge of his personal handgun continues, but said the veteran cop “saved that child from disfigurement or maybe even death. He fired his gun as a last resort. He fired only once. We don’t like having to shoot somebody’s pet. The trooper did what he had to do.”

UPDATE

pit nutter DESHAWN JOHNSON said the ugly pit was simply an excitable puppy who didn't deserve to be shot by a cop. his mommy, COCHISA TONEY (pictured at the top) said the puppy is just hyperactive and refuses to give it a dirt nap despite the fact the frankenmauler has now bitten two people and is only 10 months old.