Lavonia Woman Says Toccoa Police Did Not Need to Kill Pit Bulls

A Lavonia woman says Toccoa Police did not need to shoot and kill two Pit Bulls this week.

Cindy Smith said she was part owner of the dogs.   Smith told Access North Georgia the dogs were gentle animals   (http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=273032).

She said she and her husband breed Pit Bulls, and have done so for about 15 years, and she said the young dogs killed were two that she had raised from pups.

Smith said she believes the only reason Phantom, the male dog, and Tsunami, the female, attacked a neighbor’s dog was because the smaller animal came onto an enclosed front porch where the pit bulls lived.  Smith said she knows the dogs were in a secured area at the time of the incident.

However, Toccoa police say the dogs were running loose. Toccoa Police Chief Tim Jarrell says officers were forced to shoot the two dogs after they attacked officers during an incident earlier this week.

Jarrell says his officers and a Toccoa-Stephens County Animal Control officer responded to East Franklin Street on Tuesday in reference to a call about aggressive dogs.

 “While attempting to locate the dogs, an officer approached a gentleman that was outside his residence,” said Jarrell.  “He informed the officer that he had a small brown dog that was let out and had not returned home.”

Jarrell said officers then saw two large dogs attacking a smaller dog that turned out to be the dog reported missing.

He said the larger dogs then came towards the officers and the officers were unable to stop them using verbal commands.

 “The officers were able to keep the larger dogs at bay until the second or third time that they charged the officers and at that point, the officers were forced to have to shoot the dogs,” said Jarrell.

According to Jarrell, officers cited the owner for no proof of rabies vaccination, dogs running at large, vicious animal, and allowing female dog in heat to roam free.

Charlie Bauder, WNEG Radio, Toccoa contributed to this report