Prince William County police shot and killed a pit bull in Manassas on Wednesday after the dog charged at an officer and tried to bite him, following a report of two vicious dogs mauling each other in a backyard. No officers were hurt in the encounter, which unfolded in the 8500 block of Brickshire Lane.
Officers were called to the home after a report of two vicious dogs, according to Daily Voice. Investigators told the outlet that when officers arrived, they found two pit bulls mauling each other, and officers tried to separate the animals before one of the dogs turned on them.
That pit bull charged an officer and attempted to bite him, the outlet reports. A second officer then fired a single shot from a department-issued firearm, killing the dog. The report does not identify the dog's owner, say what became of the surviving animal, or detail whether either dog had been seized or euthanized beforehand.
What Counts As A Dangerous Dog In Prince William County
The shooting raises questions about how the county classifies aggressive animals. Under county rules, a dangerous dog is defined as a canine or canine crossbreed that has bitten, attacked, or inflicted serious bodily injury on a person or another companion animal, according to Prince William County's animal services office. That determination of serious bodily injury must come from a medical doctor or a licensed veterinarian, per the county's published guidance.
Separately, Virginia law addresses what an owner may do when their own pet is under attack. The state code allows the owner of an injured dog or cat to use “all reasonable and necessary force” against an attacking dog at the moment of the attack, when the pet is attacked on the owner's property, in order to protect their animal, according to the Code of Virginia. That provision deals with force used by a pet owner, not a responding police officer, and the available excerpt does not address whether it has any bearing on the Brickshire Lane shooting.
Not The First Dog Shooting By Virginia Police
Wednesday's shooting echoes other Virginia cases in which officers have opened fire on dogs during calls that escalated quickly. In 2017, a Virginia officer fatally shot a pit bull that allegedly charged at police, according to a report from The Washington Post. In another incident, a Virginia officer shot two dogs that attacked him during a welfare check, with one of the animals euthanized, per a report from WUSA9.
Last year, a Petersburg officer shot and killed a dog that jumped from a vehicle and attacked him during a traffic stop, according to WTVR. As with the Manassas case, the full details of that encounter, including what happened in the moments before the shot was fired, were not independently verified beyond the initial reports.
No official police incident release detailing the Manassas shooting has been made public, and key questions remain, including the dog owner's identity, the surviving pit bull's condition and disposition, and the exact sequence of events before the fatal shot. Prince William County has not said whether any further action is planned in connection with the backyard mauling that preceded the shooting.
