CINCINNATI -- Blue Ash police say they didn't want to shoot a family’s pet, but had no choice.
Scott and Sharon Bullock returned home from a funeral last Friday to find three bullets on their porch and a note to call police about their dog, who they say was a Chihuahua-mix.
Police say the small dog had bit a jogger and they were trying to contain it, when it clamped down on an officer’s hand and would not let go.
A taser didn't work and neither did the first two gun shots, according to police.
“The officer's obligated to try to do something to contain this dog," said Lieutenant Paul Hartinger, of the Blue Ash police department.
"Once they finally did contain it, then the dog attacked the officers,” said Lt. Hartinger.
“The officers, as badly as the officer was getting bitten, he had to do something to protect himself,” said Hartinger. “They first chose physical means, then a taser and when those two didn't work, he had no option but to shoot the dog."
Police say the dog bit the officer 17 times on one hand and nine times on the other.
The officer is expected to recover.
Monday night the family told 9News they wondered why the officers didn't call the SPCA to catch the 5 lb. dog.
According to a press release issued by Blue Ash Police on Wednesday, the report provided to them by the SPCA, who examined the dog after the incident, states the dog’s primary breed as a Jack Russell Terrier and that it weighed 20 pounds.
Blue Ash police also reports the officer is currently being treated by a hand specialist and physical therapist.
Police also say the family’s dog was not licensed and did not have its required rabies shots or other vaccinations. They’ve cited the dog’s owner for one count of failure to register the dog, in addition to two counts “relating to his allowing the dog to run at large.”
