MAINE -- A pet dog was shot and killed by its owners Sunday after it attacked a 14-month-old girl, police said.
The girl, whose name was not released, was taken to Inland Hospital with minor lacerations to her ear and head. No one else was injured.
The attack happened about 7 p.m. Sunday inside a Pattee Pond Road home shortly after dinner.
Animal Control Officer Charles Theobald said the girl and her father were letting their two dogs outside when one of them, a four-year-old black Labrador retriever, bit the girl on the head and wouldn't let go. The girl's father and grandfather pried the dog off the girl, but the dog continued to be aggressive.
The grandfather then took the dog outside, and the dog was aggressive toward him, Theobald said.
"At that time, the grandfather decided that for the safety of the girl and everyone else the dog needed to go," he said.
The grandfather shot and killed the dog.
Theobald said the grandfather was within his rights to kill the dog, and no charges will be filed.
If grandpa took the dog outside, this means he had control of it. How could he possibly go get a gun if he hadn't already either tied the dog up or put it in a kennel? If he did these things, then the imminent danger was gone and he went inside, got the gun, came back outside and shot and killed the dog for spite. Yes, the dog needed to be euthanized, but how many times did he shoot the dog? You cannot shoot a dog in the head if you want to test it for rabies so he had to have shot it in the body. If it didn't immediately kill the dog, the dog would've tried to get away and he would've had to shoot the dog multiple times. That is animal cruelty.
Theobald is not sure what triggered the dog's actions, but rabies is not suspected.
The family reported that the dog had been periodically aggressive toward the girl ever since she learned to walk, and had bitten her once before, about three months ago, Theobald said.
(Morning Sentinel - June 5, 2012)
