The Cincinnati Fire Department received a 911 call just before 1 a.m. Wednesday from a man in the 3400 block of Cleveland Avenue stating that he had been attacked by his dog and believed he was going to pass out.
Upon arrival, the fire department was unable to gain entry into the victim's apartment because of the dog, which was an American pit bull/bull mastiff mix. The Police Department responded and shot the dog dead. The SPCA arrived a few moments later.
[UPDATE: News outlets are now describing the dog as an American Bulldog.]
Officers entered the apartment and located the victim. He has been identified as Ronnel Brown, 40. Police are calling his death accidental.
According to the Hamilton County coroner's office, the man was on dialysis and had an IV. He had been bitten several times and appears to have bled to death.
"He was on dialysis and had a device in his forearm that during the scuffle with the dog, the dog bit him in the forearm and ripped a hole in that device, that led to a lot of blood loss," said Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco. She also said the bite barks were deep.
Mike Retzlaff, operation director at SPCA, says a necropsy will be performed on the dog. There were two puppies with the dog, but its unclear if they were related to the dog. They are in the care of the SPCA.
"The paramedics could not get to this individual, they needed the dog removed. It took our officer about 10 minutes to respond. By the time he had gotten there police had already shot the dog so the paramedics could get to the victim," said Retzlaff.
[They say police shot the dog six times to kill it to gain entry into the apartment. Inside, were two American Bulldogs puppies as well as drugs.]
Lt. Bardeau with Cincinnati Police say they hadn't received any complaints about the dog.
The incident remains under investigation by Cincinnati Police and the Hamilton County Coroner's Office.
(WMBF - July 12, 2012)
