FLORIDA -- A police officer shot and killed two pit bulls after they attacked a K-9 that had wandered into their fenced yard while tracking suspected car thieves, police said.
Officers responded to the intersection of North Segrave and North streets at 1:46 a.m. Sunday where suspects had crashed a stolen vehicle and then ran from the scene, police reports show. An officer and his K-9 tracked the suspects and found the gate of a fenced property had been pushed down at 340 Taylor Ave.
As the officer and his police dog entered the backyard, two pit bulls exited through the door of a screened porch and attacked Blaze the police dog. One pit bull latched onto Blaze's stomach area while another clamped onto the front legs. The officer used pepper spray to try to separate the pit bulls from the K-9, but the chemical had no effect on the pit bulls.
That's when another officer shot each dog three times and the pit bulls released the police dog, reports state.
Blaze, a German shepherd, suffered several puncture wounds and was rushed to an emergency animal clinic for treatment, police said. The K-9, who's nearly 2 and has been with the police department less than a year, was recovering at home Monday, police spokesman Jimmie Flynt said.
The suspected car thieves got away.
In their reports, officers said they spoke with the upset owner of the dogs, James David Estep, 49, and said Estep understood why his dogs had to be shot. Police offered to bury the dogs, but Estep refused, saying he would take care of the burials.
Estep did not return a telephone message left for him Monday.
(News Journal - October 11, 2011)
