NOT UNCOMMON FOR COPS TO BE CONFRONTED BY VICIOUS DOGS

Cops Kill Pit Bull In 'Burg, Scare Away Dogs In Wheatley

Chatham-Kent police have had two run-ins with vicious pit bulls in
the last week while executing search warrants.

Last Thursday, police arrived to search a home in Wheatley, and as
the owner ran into the house, two pit bulls came out after officers.

Police fired shots and the dogs fled, but the next day in
Wallaceburg, officers shot and killed a pit bull while executing a
search warrant of a home on Wallace St.

Both searches turned up drugs, and Const. Doug Gutteridge said it's
not uncommon for police to be faced with vicious dogs while
conducting a search of a home that is suspected of housing illegal narcotics.

"When our officers execute drug warrants, quite often the trafficker
has these vicious-type dogs to protect their stash," he said Tuesday.

"And when the officers go there, the vicious dogs may try to attack
the officer or present a very serious situation, and hold the
officers off while the guy's in the back room getting rid of evidence."

Gutteridge said sometimes in order to protect themselves, officers
are forced to shoot the animal.

"Obviously, people have the right to protect themselves from vicious
attacks, including dogs," he said.

If police are aware that dogs are in the home they're about to
search, or believe the dogs will be aggressive, they'll contact
animal control officers like the Ontario Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals to manage the dogs, he said.

OSPCA branch manager Cathy Crawford said it's sometimes in the pit
bull's nature to protect their owners when police arrive, or they
could have been trained to attack.

"Whether they've been abused doesn't necessarily come into it,
whether they've been encouraged to be protective - probably that's
true in a lot of cases," she said. "And part of it could be that
that's the dog's natural response."

Under the newly-enacted Dog Owners Liability Act, the OSPCA can
remove aggressive pit bulls and euthanize them if they deem it necessary.

Only under strict circumstances could the owner ever get the dog back.

Situation is not uncommon

For officers about to search a suspected drug operation, having to
face down a vicious pit bull is a very real situation, Gutteridge said.

"It's not uncommon at all to find dogs in places like this," he said
of the two searches police conducted.

"It's actually unfortunate for the dogs."