Deputy shoots, kills attacking dog

A Carson City deputy shot and killed a dog this evening after he was bit by the animal in the 900 block of East Fifth Street.

Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said the deputy, whose name was not released, responded about 9:15 p.m. to the corner of Harbin and East Fifth streets on a dispute over a "backyard sale."

When he entered the gate, the female shepherd, Labrador mix with three 3-week old puppies, attacked, said Furlong.

"It bit him on his lower calf and as he was trying to beat the dog off with his hands, the dog kept coming and kept coming," he said. "But the officer was already inside the fence and had no way out."

Furlong said the dog's owner, an elderly woman, tried to grab the dog and stop the assault, but was unable.

The deputy fired two shots, killing the animal.

Furlong said, after the shooting investigators learned that the same dog, likely protecting her pups, bit another man who'd come into the yard an hour earlier.

"The dog was already primed, it had already bit somebody tonight - so when the officer came over he walked through the gate and bam, there goes the dog," he said.

The incident is under investigation. The deputy sustained minor injuries. He will remain on the job.