An Athens-Clarke County police officer shot and killed a dog Tuesday after it mauled a 10-year-old boy and then attacked the officer, the Athens Banner-Herald reports.
Police responded to a home at 9:46 p.m. after the attack was reported. A 14-year-old boy told the officer his brother had been bitten in the face by the family’s pit bull, the Banner-Herald reports.
“(He) was visibly upset about what just happened and expressed his desire for the dog to die,” according to a police incident report, the Banner-Herald reports.
The victim was nearby, holding a towel to his jaw.
“I observed a large laceration from the corner of his lip to the bottom of his jaw,” an officer wrote in the report. “It appeared part of the area was bitten off.”
The victim’s stepfather told police he was outside watering trees while the victim played with the family’s dogs on the front porch. The pit bull bit the victim in the face and would not let go, so the stepfather hit him with a stick.
The dog released the boy and ran into its cage.
Emergency medical workers arrived andwanted to find the missing piece of the boy’s face, the Banner-Herald reports.
But before they could, the dog started walking toward the officers and the family members, the Banner-Herald reports. One officer attempted to push the dog away with his baton, but the dog bit and the officer dropped the baton. Then, as the officer backed away, the animal jumped and bit him in the arm.
The officer drew his pistol and shot it several times, killing it, the Banner-Herald reports.
Police said the missing piece of the boy’s face could not be found. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital. The bitten officer was treated at the scene by EMS and later drove himself to the hospital.
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