Ottumwa Police Officer Shoots Pit Bull

IOWA -- A domestic disturbance call ends when a police officer shoots the family dog.

At approximately 3:12 p.m. Sunday, officers were dispatched to 905 N. Court, in reference to a domestic disturbance. When the officer arrived, he observed a pit bull that did not have on a collar.

The officer asked the female, at the residence, if the dog belonged to her and she said it did.

According to Ottumwa Police Chief Tom McAndrew, the situation escalated quickly almost immediately after the officer asked who owned the dog.

“The dog began to charge the officer and attempted to bite him. The officer drew his service weapon and discharged one round at the dog, striking it once in its front right leg near the elbow,” said Chief McAndrew.

The gunshot did not kill the dog and it was transported to a local veterinarian clinic.

“The police officer transported the dog and the dog’s owner to the vet, because the owner did not have a vehicle,” said McAndrew.

Sunday’s incident was, reportedly, not the first time the Ottumwa Police encountered this pit bull.

“The dog had been ordered out of Ottumwa a few weeks ago, due to the city’s ordinance against keeping pit bulls inside the city limits. The owner had advised that the dog had been removed from the city limits,” said McAndrew.

[Imagine that. He lied to the officer. Wow.]

“Our Community Service Officer Jeff Williams is actually in Arizona for training right now. When he returns, we will be able to determine the date that the pit bull was ordered out of the city and then we will determine if there will be any charges filed against the owner.”

The dog will remain at the veterinary clinic until Officer Williams returns from training.

“Once the dog was treated, the police department decided that the dog would be impounded at the veterinarian’s office until we decide what we will do with the dog,” said McAndrew.

The officer, who shot the dog, is not on administrative leave. However, the police department will take steps to determine that the officer took the correct action, in shooting the pit bull.

“We will look at the incident and determine whether he acted appropriately and go from there,” said McAndrew. “Looking at the reports, it looks like the officer did an outstanding job and did what he was supposed to. It looks to me that he was justified in shooting the dog and we are lucky that it didn’t kill the dog, fortunately for the dog.”

[Unfortunately for the rest of us...]

Although the dog lived through the incident, it is unclear what his fate will be.

“What we have to decide now is whether we are going to let the owner have the dog or if we are going to put the dog down. We had reports from some of the neighbors, after the shooting, who stated that they had been chased by and attacked by the dog as well. It appears that the dog is vicious,” said McAndrew. “We gave the owner a chance to get the dog out of the city limits and she did not do that, so we will be conferring with our city attorney and decide what we are going to do with the dog.”

The Post will keep you updated as this story progresses.

(Ottumwa Evening Post - Sept 2, 2014)