Philadelphia: Cop Kills Dog After Mauling Attack

Facts

  • A Philadelphia police officer fatally shot a Cane Corso that was part of a pack of four dogs — including three pit bulls — attacking a 53-year-old man on the street.1
  • Following the incident in the city's Mantua neighborhood, the officer was placed on administrative duty pending a probe. Investigators claim he tried distracting the dogs with his siren before firing three shots, after which the pit bulls ran off.2
  • According to his neighbors, the man was attempting to protect his own dog from the pack. He reportedly suffered bite wounds all over his body and is in stable condition at the hospital.3
  • The police have yet to reveal whether they have found the other dogs' owner or the reason they were running loose.4
  • This comes days after New York Police Department officers shot and killed a pit bull who fatally mauled its 41-year-old owner in the Bronx.5

Sources: 1New York Post, 2CBS, 36abc Philadelphia, 4Inquirer and 5New York Daily News.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Humane Rescue Alliance. People jump to conclusions when they hear about pit bull attacks because they're misinformed. As with any breed, whether or not a pit bull is aggressive depends on when it was spayed or neutered and how its owner raises and treats it. Even if society chooses to ban them, maintaining such a policy would cost far too much.
  • Narrative B, as provided by twitter.com. People who want to ban pit bulls aren't jumping to conclusions — they use common sense and follow the statistics. Pit bulls are disproportionately more inclined to maul people — especially children — because they're biologically wired toward aggressive behavior and built to impose maximum carnage on their victims. There's no reason not to ban them.

Predictions