Police officer shoots dog attacking its owners in Philadelphia, authorities say

By Ross Dimattei

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    PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — A vicious dog attack in North Philadelphia. A responding police officer was forced to open fire to stop the dog from biting its owners.

Police tell CBS3 it was a husband and wife who were attacked. They say when their dog wouldn’t stop biting them, they had no choice but to shoot it.

Officers were called to 5th and Venango Streets around 1 a.m. on Thursday.

When they got there, they found a 41-year-old man was actively being attacked by a pit bull mix.

They say he was already bleeding from wounds all over his body and the dog had latched onto the man’s arm.

According to officers, the man’s two children, ages 18 and 19, were hitting the dog with an aluminum baseball bat, trying to get it to let go, but it refused to release him.

That’s when one officer fired a single shot, striking the dog in its side.

“That did its job,” Chief Inspector Scott Small said. “The dog immediately released his grip, stopped biting this male, then police were able to take this 41-year-old male to Temple Hospital, where he’s in critical condition.”

Police say the man was bit in the head, neck, torso, arms, and legs and suffered what officers described as “large wounds.”

They also found the man’s 38-year-old wife had been bit once in her leg.

Both were taken to Temple University Hospital for treatment. The man is currently in critical condition and his wife is in stable condition.

As for the dog, police say it survived the gunshot wound, but they’re not sure what kind of condition it’s currently in.

The SPCA and Animal Control were called in to investigate what caused this dog to attack and what will happen to it from here.

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