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Three-year-old pit bull Cage, above, was shot and killed by a Northport Police officer at the dog's home on Monday, June 24, 2013. (Photo courtesy of Kylie Law)

-- A Northport Police officer shot and killed a pit bull dog in the front yard area of its owners' residence Monday morning after the officer reported the animal growled and charged him.

According to an NPD news release, the officer was assisting a Northport Animal Control Officer in issuing a citation at a residence on 69th Street between the Deerfield and Buckhead neighborhoods.

The NPD officer said a pit bull dog, which was running loose across the street, growled and charged at the officers, who were standing in the front yard of the residence. The Animal Control officer attempted to restrain the dog with his catch stick and the police officer tried to push the dog away with a baton, according to NPD.

The dog continued to try to attack the officers. At that time, the dog was shot. After being shot, the dog ran onto the front porch of the residence where the dog died, the report said. The NPD did not release the names of the officers involved.

The incident occurred when owners Kelly and Kylie Law were away at work, though Law says she was told by her neighbors that her 3-year-old blue pit bull named Cage did not attack the officers.

"My neighbor's wife called me. She said she yelled at the officer not to shoot the dog and said that he was friendly," Law said. "I understand pit bulls can be aggressive, but my husband has trained them. They listen to us. They've never gone to any of our neighbors' yards. They're always sitting on the front porch when we get home. The neighbors all know our dogs. They're friendly. You can come say hey to them and pet them. They have never harmed anyone."

Law said it's routine for Cage and their other animals, if they get loose from the back yard, to walk around to the front porch and lie down until the owners return home. Shortly after she came home, she found her deceased dog lying on the porch.

"The officer and dog catcher said the officer had no choice and that the dog attacked him and bit him," Law said. "My neighbor said the dog didn't bite him. She asked where he bit him, and the officer said, 'He didn't bite me,' but that he tried to bite him.

"The dog catcher said, 'He came at me.' I asked, 'Was he wagging his tail? He's never attacked anybody or anything.' The dog catcher said he didn't know. He said he didn't know if he was growling. 'I don't know' is all he could say."

Law says no complaint was made to Animal Control or the NPD, but the officers simply saw the dog loose near the front yard area.

"I was trying to keep myself together," Law said about her interaction with the NPD officer who shot her dog. "The officer said he had no choice. He asked for my license. He tried to be relatable, saying 'I have dogs, too. I didn't want this to happen.'"

Northport Police Chief Kerry Card said he nor the officer who shot the dog has yet to hear from the owners, but he said he has heard plenty of accounts of the incident vial social media.

"There's always a great deal of public interest and concern, as there should be," Card said. "I'm a big animal lover, which shouldn't affect my job one way or the other. But I understand how people can get very emotional when something like this happens. I get it. I know how people feel when they perceive things happening a certain way."

Cage, 3, lived at a residence on 69th street Northport, where he was shot and killed on Monday, June 24, 2013 after a Northport Police officer said the dog growled at and attacked him. (Photo courtesy of Kylie Law)

Card noted the NPD's policy in discharging a firearm in destroying an animal, which is restricted to the following: "1) In self defense 2) To prevent harm to citizen or officer 3) To relieve injured animal from continuous suffering and misery."

Kylie Law says her dog's particular breed could have provoked an emotional response from the officers, but she says that's no reason to shoot an animal.

"I feel like the whole situation was handled very poorly," Law said. "I want something to be done about this. This is profiling of a dog. I want some type of justification. This pit bull -- he was my baby."