A Dallas police officer shot at a group of aggressive dogs that were charging at officers Sunday morning, killing one of the canines.
Around 9:37 a.m. on September 29, police responded to a call about a pack of dogs attacking an individual near Sargent Park in South Dallas. When they arrived on the scene, they located five aggressive dogs and found that one person had been bitten, per WFAA.
Police attempted to diffuse the situation by deploying pepper balls, which are commonly used as a non-lethal method of crowd control and de-escalation. However, the pack continued its aggressive behavior and began to charge at the officers.
One officer fired his gun at the dogs, striking and killing one of the canines.
Animal control services were called to the scene and captured one of the dogs, but three remaining dogs ran away.
The person bit by the dogs did not receive medical treatment.
Earlier this year, a baby died in Duncanville after being attacked by three dogs, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The 1-year-old child was at the home of his babysitter in Duncanville with three other children when the babysitter’s dogs entered the house and attacked the infant.
The child was unconscious when first responders found him at the scene and died shortly after he was taken to Children’s Medical Center Dallas.
The other three children were unharmed. The babysitter sustained injuries while attempting to pull the dogs off of the infant. The dogs were all reportedly Geman Shepherd mixes, with one weighing about 100 pounds and the other two dogs weighing about 80 pounds each.
Dallas has reported a surge in unleashed dog bites so far this year, per DX.
In February, The Dallas Express reported on a video showing an eight-month-pregnant woman being attacked by an unleashed dog. The victim, Reyna Gutierrez, was with her two children at the time of the attack. She was taken to the hospital after suffering bites to both her hands and arms.
The City of Dallas website says that dog owners commit a Class C misdemeanor when they fail to secure their dog and it injures another person or animal unprovoked at locations other than the owner’s property.
