Quoted: Just saw on the news.....the detective that shot the dog said she was in fear of her life when she was chasing a suspect....... Hmmmm......

+1, it has actually been determined that female cops are more likely to be intimidated and find a situation to be threatening, resulting in a greater liklihood of using lethal force.  There's a dozen other ways to defend yourself against a dog (after all, dogs don't carry/use weapons) and I have to seriously wonder why these things weren't considered.  I'd have tried a Taser first (if there was some distance), if that failed, pepper spray (or pepper spray first if it's close up).  If both of those failed, then lethal force.  Also, chances are good that I would have injuries.  Was the cop injured or not ?  A dog, after all, is faster than a human and you're likely to be bitten before you can draw your weapon.  With a dog, it's the 21 foot rule on steroids.