A San Francisco police officer shot and killed a dog Monday that reportedly bit him on the leg in Golden Gate Park.
Just before 5 p.m., the police officer was checking on the welfare of a sleeping homeless man who appeared intoxicated in Alvord Lake Park, near Stanyan and Haight streets, Officer Albie Esparza said.
That man's off-leash pit bull mix “became aggressive” toward the officer, Esparza said. The officer reportedly stepped back to a safer distance, but the dog lunged at the cop and bit him on the leg, puncturing the skin.
The officer fired multiple shots at the dog.
The homeless man, identified as 37-year-old Asa McCoy of Berkeley, was subsequently booked on two outstanding warrants for health code violations: for unlawfully allowing a dog to run free in public and for failing to get a license for the pooch, Esparza said. McCoy also was on suspicion of allowing his dog off-leash during the Monday incident.
The 2-year-old female pit bull named Janaai had been impounded in San Franciscoin February 2012 when its owner was in jail, said Deb Campbell, a spokeswoman for Animal Care and Control. The dog's detainment had "nothing to do with any reports of aggression or anything like that," Campbell said.
