San Francisco Police Shoot and Kill Pit Bull Near Golden Gate Park
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - The pair of pit bulls that attacked two men in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on Tuesday night, prompting police to shoot and kill one of the dogs, had been in the custody of the city last month, San Francisco Animal Care and Control officials said Wednesday.
A black male pit bull named Frisco and a white female pit bull named Cleo allegedly attacked a man around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday at a homeless encampment near 25th Avenue and Lincoln Way, animal care officials said.
The man suffered several bites and a second person who tried to intervene was also bitten, police said.
Officers arrived and found one of the pit bulls, Frisco, and fatally shot it. The second dog, Cleo, ran off but was found shortly after 8 a.m. today near Haight and Stanyan streets and was safely captured, animal care officials said.
Animal Care and Control officials released a photo and video of the two pit bulls that were taken when they were previously in the department's custody in December after a vehicle was towed with the two dogs inside.
Department spokeswoman Deb Campbell said the owner of the dogs has been identified but said she did not know if he would be cited for Tuesday's incident.
The man who suffered multiple dog bites was taken to a hospital in stable condition while the second victim declined medical treatment, police said.
Cleo will be held at Animal Care and Control headquarters for a vicious and dangerous dog hearing and for a mandatory 10-day observation to check for rabies, according to the department.
The fatal shooting of a dog is the second by San Francisco police in less than a week.
Around 10:30 a.m. Saturday, officers with the department's housing unit were investigating a report of a squatter living with a dog named "Psycho" in a vacant unit in the 1000 block of Connecticut Street in the city's Potrero Hill neighborhood.
The suspected squatter was outside the unit as officers were knocking on the door, then kicked open the door, allowing the dog to charge at the officers, police said.
An officer was backed against a wall and fell to the ground as the dog lunged at him, prompting him to shoot and kill the dog. The suspect was then placed under arrest on suspicion of aggravated assault on a police officer and trespassing, according to police.
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