Dog That Attacked Police Officer to Be Euthanized
The American staffordshire terrier that attacked a mounted officer earlier this summer in the city's Presidio neighborhood will be put to sleep.
Not the dog in question.
The Vicious and Dangerous Animal Unit said the dog displayed "human-directed aggression" and a high prey drive during the mile-and-a-half chase in which it bit the police officer's horse 13 times.
The officer was patrolling an unfenced area of Golden Gate Park that allows dogs to run off-leash as long as they are trained to respond to voice commands.The dog saw the horse and ran 200 feet to attack it, causing it to panic and throw the police officer off the horse. The cops was knocked unconscious in the fall, but recovered later.
Afraid of the dog, the horse ran for roughly 1 mile back to its stable, where the dog attacked it again. The horse took off running through the woods for another half-mile, where the dog attacked it yet again, until a motorcycle cop was able to intervene, according to SFPD.
The horse was bitten on its legs, hindquarters, chest, and abdomen, putting it out of commission for 20 days as it healed. The officer has since returned to duty.
The Vicious and Dangerous Animal Unit receives 450 reports of dog bites on average every year, and conducted hearings on 120 of them. In about 5 percent of the cases, the animal is ordered to be euthanized to ensure the public's safety.
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