Woman says officer saved her, pets from dog attack

VILLA RICA, Ga. — A local woman said a police officer saved her life when he stepped in to stop a dog attack.

The dog got into her backyard and clamped down on one of her pets.

The homeowner told Channel 2’s Carl Willis she was pushed back into her home and fell down and broke her coffee table.

She said moments later an officer stood at her back door and fired a shot at the dog.

"I was scared to death. I was traumatized," the woman said, asking not to be identified. %

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The woman said she was traumatized after seeing her dog attacked and violently shaken with herself nearly bitten by a neighbor's Rottweiler.

"He just came through the door growling, and he had the dog by his legs. The officer tried to get him back," the homeowner said.

And when the dog tried to attack her from behind, the woman crashed down into her glass coffee table.

She said a Villa Rica police officer, who responded to her home on Oakhaven Way, stepped between her and the Rottweiler and stopped the attack by firing two shots.

"He had to do it and if it wasn't for him, I don't think that I would be here," the homeowner said.

Police said they learned that the Rottweiler had been vicious before killing another dog. They said its owner had been taking steps to keep the dog from getting out.

But it escaped through a section of the fence that had not been repaired.

"If it is a dog that is aggressive, you have to take responsibility for it and take precautions," said Capt. Keith Shaddix of the Villa Rica Police Department.

The Rottweiler had to be euthanized. Those involved said it's a sad situation that could have been prevented.

"Any time you have to kill a dog or kill an animal, it's sad. It's not what we want to do. It's a last resort," Shaddix said.

"I felt sorry for the officer because he said he was a dog lover," the homeowner said.

As with any police-involved shooting, it is under investigation, but the homeowner said it was necessary and saved her life.

Cox Media Group