Deputy Shoots Pit Bull to Stop Attack on Poodle

A pit bull was shot and wounded by a reserve sheriff’s deputy after the dog escaped from his owner’s apartment in Agoura Hills and mauled a poodle, authorities said Tuesday.

Owner Pete Lown said he had his pit bull destroyed shortly after the attack on Monday, citing the animal’s “aggressive nature.” However, he complained that the shooting was “really out of bounds.”

Deputy Nicholas Ochoa, a 10-year reserve officer with the Malibu sheriff’s station, fired three rounds from his service revolver at the pit bull after he was unable to pull the 65-pound dog off the 20-pound poodle, said Deputy Roxana Schuchman. Mack, the pit bull, was wounded in the head and legs, officials said.

The pit bull attacked the smaller dog about 4:30 p.m. outside the Colony Drive apartment building. Alerted by the snarling dogs, apartment residents tried to rescue the poodle by spraying both animals with water from a garden hose and then prodding the pit bull with a broom and a crowbar, Schuchman said. When their efforts failed, they called deputies.

Officials said Ochoa acted appropriately in firing at the pit bull because about 20 apartment residents who gathered to watch the dogfight were at risk.

“That situation was evaluated on what was occurring at the time and the number of people around and the possibility that a bystander could be attacked, knowing the nature of pit bulls,” said Sgt. Chris Guzzetta.

But Lown said his dog did not attack people and had even played with neighborhood children. Lown said the deputy had jeopardized the safety of the bystanders by firing his weapon.

The deputy “handled it totally wrong,” Lown said. “It was a dogfight; he was not attacking a human. They should have let the animal-control people handle it with tranquilizing guns.”

Fonzie, the poodle, suffered a cut on its neck and the loss of several toes, but was in stable condition after surgery, said Keith Berry, an Agoura Hills veterinarian who treated both dogs.

The poodle’s owner could not be reached for comment.

Lown said he would pay the poodle’s veterinary bills.