A Cincinnati Police Department officer shot a dog twice, killing it, and hitting another while patrolling the Bockfest 5K this weekend.
Public Information Officer Emily Szink said in a statement to the press that the incident took place around 11 a.m. Saturday, March 5, near the corner of McMicken and Dunlap streets in Over-the-Rhine. While the race was taking place, Szink says an officer noticed a “scuffle between two dogs,” one leashed and one not.
The leashed dog's owner was attempting to separate the two and the officer intervened. Szink says that while trying to separate them, the unleashed dog bit the owner of the leashed dog on the hand.
The officer then shot the unleashed dog, who was hit but “continued to attack." Szink says that is when the officer shot the dog again, it backed off and later died at a veterinarian clinic.
Officials say the leashed dog was also taken to the vet and was found to have “numerous lacerations on her body." It had also been struck by one of the officer's bullets. As of Monday, Szink says the dog is still at the clinic but is “expected to survive.”
After an investigation, Szink says the officer “complied with departmental policy regarding the discharge of firearms" during the incident.
“We understand that the scene was an emotional one for everyone involved, including the owners of both dogs, 5K participants, race spectators and our officers. The City regrets the loss of the unleashed dog, but believes that the officer’s actions saved the other animal, its owner and the public from more serious harm,” Szink says in a statement.
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