Montgomery County

Officer Euthanizes 2 Pit Bulls After Owner is Attacked

The owner of the dogs was treated for serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Two pit bulls were euthanized after one of them attacked its owner and the other attacked people who were trying to help her, according to police.

The incident began Tuesday around 1:20 p.m. as a man was walking his dogs on the 1200 block of Thompson Road in Roslyn, Pennsylvania. Police say two pit bulls escaped from a fenced yard and began attacking the man’s dogs.

The owners of the pit bulls, including a 19-year-old woman, ran over to stop the attack. As the woman tried to control her pit bulls, one of them latched its jaws onto her arm. A Good Samaritan then tried to get the dog off of the woman’s arm by using a 2x4 piece of wood.

"At one point the guy was trying to hit the dog, beat the dog," Lisa Hollars, a neighbor, told NBC10.

Police say the other pit bull also charged at other people who were trying to help the woman.

A responding police officer took out a weapon and opened fire on the pit bull that was attacking the woman, striking the dog twice. The woman was able to break free from the dog and police captured both animals.

An Abington Township Animal Control Officer euthanized both dogs with the owner’s permission. The owner was treated at Abington Hospital for serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

"I saw one gash she had right here," Hollars said. "A big gash on one arm. The other arm I couldn't see because her sweatshirt was still down. The other guys were putting tourniquets above the wound to make sure because we didn't know how much blood was coming out."

Abington Police and the Montgomery County Department of Health are investigating the incident.

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