A cop shot a pit bull inside a Petco store in Austin after it attacked another dog.
The incident happened at about 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday when a pit bull got away from its 16-year-old owner and attacked a Maltese that was in the store.
“When she [officer] got to the back of the store, the pit bull actually had the Maltese in its mouth and shaking it,” Assistant Chief Stephen Deaton said.
The customers in the store were not able to separate the dogs, so Officer Leslie Lyons had no choice but to shoot the dog. She asked the customers to back away before she pulled out her gun.
“She had the foresight to tell the people, please move out of the way, and she got everybody out of the way, there was nobody in the background, it obviously made her, her reaction a few seconds longer, but it was for the safety of the people once she had clear shot where she knew no person would be hit she took the shot, two all together,” Deaton said.
Jim Karp, a customer at Petco, said that he felt bad for both of the owners. “I’m kind of curious why the police officer didn’t use his Taser because all the police officers have Tasers,” he said.
The pit bull was killed and the Maltese was taken to the vet to be treated for injuries.
A year ago, the Austin Police Department started training their police officers on how to deal with dangerous dogs.
This isn’t the first time a police officer has had to kill an aggressive pit bull . In May, police had to shoot a pit bull in San Francisco after they received a 911 call reporting shots fired into a home.
When police arrived to the home, they were attacked by the homeowner’s pit bull. The pit bull attacked the police officers and their dogs before it was shot.
Do you think the cop should have shot the pit bull inside the Petco store?
[Image via Shuttershock ]