Arapahoe County, Colorado

From Denver‘s 9News.com of July 31, 2007

Security guard shoots pit bull during attack

Owners of a pit bull face vicious dog charges after their dog attacked a security guard near Leetsdale Drive and East Mississippi Avenue in unincorporated Arapahoe County Monday night.

The security guard for Veterans Security Services was driving on South Alton Street just south of Mississippi when he heard a loud noise.

The guard told Arapahoe County Sheriff's deputies a loose pit bull attacked him when he got out of his vehicle.

Witnesses told deputies the guard tried fighting the dog off but when it did not stop, the guard pulled out his gun and fired a single shot. The dog was hit in the right shoulder.

The dog scampered off and laid down in a yard about a block away. An Arapahoe County Animal Control officer took the dog to a nearby animal hospital.

The pit bull is now in the care of its owner's veterinarian.

Dr. Chaney Lupe, a veterinarian with Deer Creek Animal Hospital in Littleton, told 9NEWS on Tuesday afternoon that the dog's owners are "weighing their options" on how to treat the pit bull.

The owner returned to the neighborhood Tuesday afternoon and told witnesses the dog was 8-months-old and may lose its leg.

Arapahoe County Sheriff's deputies investigated the incident and determined the guard was defending himself. Sheriff Grayson Robinson told 9NEWS the owners may be charged with owning a vicious dog and having a dog on the loose.

The sheriff's department has not yet released the name of the dog's owner.

It is legal to own a pit bull in Arapahoe County and there is no leash law per say [sic]. However, according to county ordinance, dogs do need to be "under control" of the owner at all times. The ordinance describes "under control" to be either on a leash or under verbal control of the owner.