4 Officers Hurt (One by Pit Bull) as Police Fire 26 Shots to Kill Dog in Bronx. (072406 NY Times).

I would think that they would have plenty of dogs to worry about in the New York area, Why was it that one Pit Bull gave them such a hard time. I guess it is because the pit bull is Illegal to possess in New York area, because of all the fighting problems that they have had in the past, they have just outlawed them to posses, and to own, as well. I heard that you could have them to own at first if you had some kind of permit to have them, but that has changed and they are just putting them down. In fact they put down approximately 100,000+ dogs each year, because of that law.

That is such a shame too, because the Pit Bull at one time was known as America's Dog, they were the number one breed to have in the United States, not because they could fight, but because they were great dog to have as a pet. They were featured on the movies, such as our gang and the little rascals, Pete the dog was a Pit Bull and was known to be a great trained and was responsible for bringing the children along to wanting that kind of breed of dog. but in the 20's, 30's and all the way into the 50's it was okay. Why that breed was not problem all the way into the sixties, and then came the 70's and sports betting. so that ended the innocent times of the Innocent and the Innocent Doggie. Unfortunately, they started to do the stupid thing and like they are doing in New York they are Outlawing a Dog Breed fully to own. That is a sad day and a sad wonder, New York is Just the beginning of what the end might be. The landscape of what is going on and the outlawing of the breed of the Pit Bull is not good!! by them doing this they are creating a monster all on their own. the dog and breed might be tame and wonderful but they are a great and wonderful breed, however simply making them an outlawed breed to own or posses in the state makes it hard for one person to bring their dog..

This is just awful and I hope that they allow the dog to at least have permits to stay alive. especially when they are tame with no aggression, at all that is the sad part!!

BS Ranch.

4 Officers Hurt (One by Pit Bull) as Police Fire 26 Shots to Kill Dog in Bronx

By FERNANDA SANTOS

Published: July 24, 2006

Three officers were grazed by bullets yesterday morning, when the police fired more than two dozen shots at a pit bull that had locked its jaws around a fourth officer’s leg in a Bronx building, the authorities said yesterday.

In all, the police fired 26 bullets at Red, the pit bull, during a confrontation inside a fourth-floor hallway at 480 Concord Avenue, in the Port Morris neighborhood, about 12:10 a.m. Nine shots hit the dog, according to its owner, Theresa Franco, and a number of errant bullets grazed the officers in the leg, the police said.

Red, who was 12 years old and weighed about 45 pounds, died at the scene, while the four injured officers were listed in stable condition at Lincoln Hospital.

Five officers were on the fourth floor at the time of the shooting, trying to mediate a dispute between a resident and the superintendent, when they came upon the pit bull outside Ms. Franco’s apartment, the police said. The narrow hallway was dimly lighted and the dog seemed agitated, witnesses said. Suddenly, the dog charged one of the officers and bit his leg, the police said. Gunfire erupted and within seconds, the three officers were hit and the dog was dead.

The officers, who were from the 40th Precinct, were not identified. The police did not say how many of them fired shots.

“The shooting was justified,” the Police Department’s chief spokesman, Paul J. Browne, said yesterday. “As with any police shooting, the tactics employed, including the number of shots fired, will be examined by the firearms review board.” The police said there would be no necropsy on the dog.

Ms. Franco, however, told a slightly different version of events. She said the officers had been chasing a teenage boy whom they saw smoking marijuana on the stairwell when they came face to face with her dog. The boy had managed to get inside Ms. Franco’s apartment before the police could get to him, she said. He locked the door behind him, not realizing that the dog had slipped outside.

The dog was “nervous from all the commotion,” Ms. Franco, 33, said. As one of the officers kicked and banged on her door, she said, the dog attacked. She said she heard two shots at first, and then so many more that she lost count.

Mr. Browne said that once the injured officers had recovered, they would re-enact yesterday’s shooting at the Police Department’s firing range in the Bronx — standard practice with every police-involved shooting.

“I’m upset that a member of my family was killed,” said Ms. Franco, who brought the dog into her home as a puppy and named it for its red nose. Red was docile, “a good house dog” who had never bitten anyone, she said. It was so big and sturdy that children used to ride on its back, a neighbor, Barbara Johnson, said.

There were at least a dozen bullet holes on the metal door and door frame at Ms. Franco’s apartment, as well as on a corner wall nearby. The door itself was warped and off its hinges at the top. Blood drops were sprinkled on the stairs, delineating a trail that led from the fourth floor to the lobby.

At 11:15 a.m., a crime scene unit detective carried the pit bull’s body out of the building, encased in a box that resembled a rolling trunk.

Jennifer Epstein contributed reporting for this article.