PITBULL SHOT IN DRUG RAID

A Kelowna RCMP member was attacked by a pitbull during a grow-op raid
in Joe Rich Thursday.

Fearing for his safety, the officer responded with a single shot from
his sidearm, wounding the dog and scaring it into fleeing the home at
7932 Falconridge Cres.

Blood was spattered on the snow in the driveway and along Highway 33
leading to nearby Peregrine Road.

A police dog tracked the wounded animal, and it was captured by a dog
control officer, who rushed it to a Kelowna veterinarian. At press
deadline, the condition of the dog was unknown.

None of the five uniformed RCMP members involved in the raid or the
four adults arrested at the scene was injured.

When RCMP arrived at the home at 2 p.m., armed with a search warrant,
three members went to the front entrance and two went to the rear,
where the dog lunged out an open door.

Two men and two women from the Lower Mainland were arrested inside the
house and face a number of possible charges, ranging from cultivation
of marijuana and theft of electricity to possession of stolen property
and weapons offences, said RCMP Sgt. Reg Burgess.

The four people arrested were described as co-operative and
polite.

Police found several firearms, 400 marijuana plants in a basement room
and another 100 plants in or near an attached garage.

A blue Dodge king cab pickup truck parked at the residence is believed
stolen from the Lower Mainland.

Police raided the home based on a tip that electricity was being
stolen, the usual modus operandi for grow-ops.

Neighbours were suspicious due to the large number of people coming
and going, possibly caretakers for the marijuana crop. One story
circulating the rural residential neighbourhood had a babysitter for
the previous owners discovering a hidden room.

The split-level home appeared to have two or three additions. The
upper floor of the two-storey garage lacked siding.

RCMP members noted there was another major drug seizure involving
1,600 plants in the same area past Eight Mile Ranch last week.