VALDOSTA, Ga. (WTXL) - The owner of the pit bull that attacked a 10-year-old boy in Valdosta is explaining what he thinks happened.
A young boy is now recovering after being attacked by a pitbull less than 48 hours ago on San Bernadino Way in Valdosta.
Dog owner Gregory Williams, who wasn't home at the time, says he believes his dog was set loose and possibly provoked.
"In 31 years this is the first attack I've had, but I can't say I haven't seen the attack coming, cause of what I know as far as the experiences with the dog and the child," said Williams.
Williams says the 10-year-old boy and his dog have been around each other from the time it was a puppy and he was notorious for coming around and interacting with the dog.
"The little boy knows how to make my dog aggressive," Williams stated, "I don't even make my own dog aggressive."
After the attack, an officer arrived, and within minutes the dog attempted to attack the officer, causing him to fatality shoot the dog.
"He came beating on the door, BAM, BAM, BAM, scared everybody, now my dog is on the back porch, that's already a territorial threat to my dog," said Williams.
Williams says he was only doing what a dog is known to do: protect.
"He's in protection mode, because I'm not home and all he knows is there a pregnant woman here that's cuddled with him half of his life, that he's going to make sure no one get up on," Williams.
Ultimately, Williams is upset that his dog was shot and believes the situation could have been deescalated, had the officer waited for animal control to arrive.
Valdosta Police Chief Brian Childress defends his officer's actions.
"My officer goes over there and the dog approaches the officer, and residence seems to be okay, and then all of a sudden it just started growling and charged at the officer," said Chief Childress. "What are we supposed to do? Am I supposed to let my officer get bit, at the convenience of being politically correct? We're not doing that here.
VPD has decided not to release the body camera footage at this time because they say it was gruesome and happened quickly.
VALDOSTA, Ga. (WTXL) - A pit bull attacked a 10-year-old Valdosta boy Sunday, forcing police to shoot and kill it.
The Valdosta Police Department says the owner of the dog, Gregory Williams, has been charged with restriction of confinement, nuisance animal, and failure to provide proof of rabies.
Police say they were called to a home in the 1500 block of San Bernadino Way about a 10-year-old boy who had been attacked by a pit bull in his own front yard.
When an officer arrived, EMS was called to treat the child, who had multiple puncture and tear wounds to both legs.
The officer determined that the child was playing in the front lawn of his home when the dog went toward the child in an aggressive manner and attacked him.
It was also determined that the dog was running unsecure in the neighborhood and was being housed by a resident in a nearby home on San Bernardino Way.
The investigating officer went over to the owner's home and while there, the dog started growling aggressively and charged at the officer. The officer backed away and fired one shot to defend himself, fatally wounding the dog.
Lowndes County Animal Control responded to the scene and filed three separate charges on the owner of the dog.
No other injuries were reported during the incident.
A VPD supervisor came to the scene and both internal affairs and the Chief of Police were notified of the incident.
The officer had his body-worn camera activated during the incident which was reviewed by internal affairs and the Chief of Police. Investigators say the video clearly shows the unidentified officer was defending himself.
“We have concluded a complete review of this incident with the help of the officer’s body-camera video and witness statements. In no way did the officer do anything wrong in this case and fault resides solely on the owner of the dog who failed to adequately restrain the dog to avoid this from happening” stated Chief Brian Childress.
