CALIFORNIA -- An off-duty Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputy shot and killed a pit bull Sunday after the dog, owned by a neighbor who is a California Highway Patrol officer, attacked his 12-year-old son and acted aggressively toward his young daughter, authorities said Tuesday.
The incident unfolded in San Clemente around 6:20 p.m. as the deputy, his wife and two of their children prepared to take a bike ride. A third child, the 12-year-old, was also in the driveway with a skateboard.
The CHP officer’s pit bull got loose, ran to the driveway and bit the boy on the left arm.
“It was a serious enough bite that he was bleeding,” said Lt. Mark Stichter, the Sheriff’s Department spokesman.
The deputy’s son was treated at the scene by Orange County Fire Authority personnel but was not taken by ambulance to a hospital, fire Capt. Larry Kurtz said. It’s unknown whether his family took him to a hospital.
The dog then charged toward the deputy’s daughter, who was on the back of the father’s bike, Stichter said.
The deputy used a handgun he was carrying to shoot the pit bull once, Stichter said. The dog was taken to a veterinarian, but because of the severity of his injuries it had to be euthanized, he added.
“The CHP officer was very cooperative,” Stichter said. “It’s something obviously that the deputy and CHP officer didn’t want to happen.”
The Sheriff’s Department had not received any previous report of the pit bull acting aggressively, and although the incident remains under investigation, neither the deputy nor the CHP officer is expected to face charges, Stichter said.
“It’s an unfortunate incident,” he said.
About 4.5 million dog bites occur each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In Orange County, there have been about 600 reported dog bites so far this year, compared with about 1,300 for all of 2015, said Katie Ingram, assistant director of Orange County Animal Control.
(Police News - May 19, 2016)
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