Authorities Saturday were investigating another vicious attack by a pit bull, and this time an off-duty FBI agent shot and killed the pit bull in Newhall.
The unleashed pit bull ran at the FBI agent’s German Shepherd and began the attack. The German Shepherd was on a leash and out for a walk with its owner. The FBI agent was unable to break up the attack, so he drew his service weapon and fired one deadly shot.
The Friday evening attack just after 5:30 came two days after another man walking his small dog in downtown Los Angeles’ Skid Row was set upon by three pit bulls. That man suffered numerous dog bites and his small dog was killed. Police then shot all three of those pit bulls. Two were killed and one survived.
Friday’s latest Newhall pit bull attack took place near the area of Piazza Di Sarro and Sierra Highway.
The FBI agent was walking his dog on a leash when the unleashed pit bull attacked his dog, said Lt. Chuck Becerra of the Los Angeles County Sheriff‘s Santa Clarita Station. The agent tried to pull his dog away but the attack continued so he pulled out his weapon and fired one shot at the dog, killing it, Becerra said.
Animal control came and took the deceased dog away.
Becerra said there was no crime in the incident but he did say the FBI was investigating due to the fact that the agent used his weapon.
In Wednesday’s downtown Los Angeles attack, the victim was a man in his 50s. He was hospitalized with injuries that are not life- threatening, said Officer Sal Ramirez of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations office. His name was not released.
The owner of the pit bulls was cooperating with investigators and has not been arrested, but the investigation is continuing, Ramirez said.
The attack occurred about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 500 block of Stanford Avenue, Ramirez said.
An officer shot the three pit bulls, two of them fatally, Ramirez said. The third animal survived and was taken for medical treatment by Animal Control officers.
Cell phone video taken during the attack showed officers using batons in a vain attempt to stop the mauling.
An area business owner told reporters the pit bulls lived on the grounds of a neighboring business, were allowed to briefly run free each morning after being let out of their enclosures, and would typically obey the commands of a man who owns or tends to the dogs.
— City News Service