Advertisement 6 injured in confrontation at 57th Street, Park Avenue Animal control officer attacked while trying to pick up neglected dog Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A confrontation on Kansas City’s east side Wednesday afternoon left six people injured.Police said it started after an animal control officer tried to bring in a neglected dog for proper care.But during the incident, people in the neighborhood attacked the animal control officer, four police officers and a civilian who tried to come to the animal control officer’s rescue.Animal control officers had been to the area earlier in the week to check on the dog.“They determined that the dog was being neglected, issued a warning at that time and came back by today to check on the dog again, and then that’s when all this started,” said Capt. James Thomas of the Kansas City Police Department.Police said the civilian, David Lyman, tried to help the animal control officer, who was being choked. "He took his chest and started pushing her up against the truck and said, 'I want my dog, I want my dog, give me my dog' and she said she wasn't gonna give it to him," said Lyman. "Then all of a sudden, he took both his hands and put them around her neck and started choking her and threw her up against her truck. That's when I jumped out of my truck and went over there and threw my arm around him and snatched him off of her."He said the dog owner's mother also started to attack him."By that time, his mother came up and started hitting me all in the face and stuff," he said. "Then his father came up and started swinging at me with a cane."The dog's owner jumped into Lyman's truck and sped off, but police who had just arrived at the scene were able to stop it.Lyman said he had no other choice than to rush to the aid of the animal control officer."I had to do something, I just couldn't let him just keep choking that woman and not do nothing, I wouldn't have slept at night, I got five daughters and sisters and a wife, so I had to do something," he said.The dog owner and the dog owner's mother were both arrested. All of the injured people are expected to be OK.The dog was taken to the KC Pet Project for care. Animal control officers are trained for confrontations with unhappy pet owners. They said situations rarely spiral this far out of control.11833402