Philadelphia police officers have fatally shot 5 dogs since the start of 2024, just as many as they did all last year

Philadelphia police have released information about two more fatal dog shootings this month by officers, bringing the year’s total to five, just as many as were reported in all of 2023. All but one of the dogs shot this year were killed in May.

In both recent shootings, people were also wounded, including an owner struck by a bullet fragment, and a police sergeant bitten by a pit bull that had killed a smaller dog.

Sarah Barnett, executive director of ACCT Philly, said that although they are concerned about the marked uptick in dog shootings by police, in all of them the dogs were attacking either other dogs or people.

“In each instance we have been aware of, we understand why [shooting the dog] was the response that occurred,” Barnett said.

In the most recent occurrence, around 4 a.m. Thursday, a 67-year-old man was walking his black Pomeranian in front of his home on the 1600 block of Dover Street in South Philadelphia when a stray pit bull attacked the dog. The pit bull then bit a responding police sergeant in the arm, before the sergeant and another officer shot the dog twice, killing it, police said in a report issued Friday night.

The Pomeranian — who was nearly 6 years old and named Belinda, according to a FOX29 report — died at the scene from the attack.

The sergeant, who was not identified by police, was treated at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center for bite wounds and abrasions and released. Both officers were placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of an investigation by Internal Affairs and the Officer-Involved Shooting Investigations unit. The officers’ body-worn cameras captured what happened, police said.

On May 15, a Philadelphia police officer shot and killed another pit bull to break up an attack on a smaller dog and, in the process, also wounded an owner of one of the animals, police said in a separate report Friday.

Officer Brian Keenan — who was identified by police as 30 and a seven-year veteran of the force — was one of multiple officers from the 39th District in North Philadelphia called to break up a dog fight about noon on the 1500 block of South 58th Street, police said.

Keenan fired his weapon multiple times, killing the pit bull, the police report said. A bullet fragment ricocheted and struck the left arm of one of the dog owners, a 66-year-old-man, police said. He declined medical attention at the scene, according to police. It is unclear which owner was wounded.

The smaller dog died from injuries sustained during the attack, police said.

Keenan’s body-worn camera also captured what happened, police said, and he has been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of investigations.

On May 14, an off-duty officer shot two dogs that attacked a woman in Kingsessing while on a walk. One of the dogs had to be euthanized, while the woman, 52, was hospitalized with arm, leg, and head injuries. In that case, the officer discharged his service weapon up to seven times, police said.

And on May 1, another police officer shot and killed a cane corso that attacked a man, 53, alongside four other pit bulls in Mantua, also in May. The man was taken to the hospital with bite wounds all over his body.

Philadelphia police officers are prohibited from shooting at a dog or other animal, according to department policy, “except to protect themselves or another person from physical injury and there is no other reasonable means to eliminate the threat.”

Barnett, of ACCT, said that in at least one of the recent cases, officers had tried other deterrents before firing, including the officer in Mantua, who had tried to startle the attacking dogs by blaring a siren.

In recent years, advocates have encountered an alarming rise in dogs displaying aggressive behavior, she said. That increase could stem from a host of factors, she said, including fewer dogs that are spayed and neutered, more unleashed dogs in a dense city, younger dogs that lack proper socialization skills because of the pandemic, and shelters and individuals who do not convey critical information about an adopted dog’s behavior history.

The number of deadly occurrences involving police is minuscule compared with the number of dogs in the city, noting that, last year, police on their own brought nearly 700 dogs to ACCT for care and rehoming.

“It is something that needs to be watched,” she said of the shootings. “But I would caution folks that it does not happen much in general.”