Police: Officer justified to shoot pit bull
'He got shot twice and he's still kicking,' owner said of his dog, Chief.
A red-nose pit bull is recovering at an animal hospital after a Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police officer shot the dog.
Eight-month-old Chief had gotten off his lead and was loose on his owner's property in the 2300 block of Camelia Court Saturday afternoon.
Officer Ryan Bevil had been called to the house for an animal complaint. He saw the dog in the yard and tried to avoid it when he went to the door, but the dog came at him, according to an initial police report.
Bevil said he used pepper spray on Chief after the dog attacked him, according the report. He fired four shots from his firearm after the dog continued to come at him, the report says.
The officer was not injured.
"The dog was coming at him," said Lt. Brenda Boulware, commander of the county's animal control unit. "He showed great restraint when he did shoot him. The county has a leash law and he was loose."
Chad Oliver acknowledged that Chief was not on a leash, but says the dog was in his yard.
The police report says the dog was a foot away from the officer when he fired.
"I'm concerned why the cop came up in my yard, knowing the dog was visible. He doesn't know my dog might be trained not to leave the yard," Oliver said. "He didn't give my dog a chance."
The officer should not have gotten out of his patrol car if he was scared of the dog, Oliver said.
"He should have sat in his car and called animal control," Oliver said. "He sprayed the dog with mace; of course that was going to agitate him."
Oliver said he has "beware of dog" signs posted, but Boulware says that's not enough. Dog owners need to keep their pets on a leash or in a fenced-in yard, she said.
Animal control is scheduling a hearing to determine if Chief is dangerous, Boulware said.
Oliver said animal control has been to his house other times for his other pit bull, Chief's mother, who has gotten loose several times and he says is sometimes vicious. But Chief is harmless, he said.
Oliver has since turned the female pit bull over to animal control.
He is waiting for a veterinarian to repair Chief's crushed jaw and injured leg.
But the veterinarian says Chief will be fine, according to Oliver.
"He got shot twice and he's still kicking," he said.
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