Two dogs shot after attacking small dog, charging at Corpus Christi police officer

Two dogs are dead after they attacked a small dog in its owner's yard in the city's Northside.

At 8:23 a.m. Corpus Christi police officers were dispatched to the 1000 block of South Brownlee Boulevard for a vicious animal call, Lt. J.C. Hooper said.

Initial calls stated a dog, which callers believed to be a pit bull, were attacking a woman's daughter and then another dog.

Officers arrived and saw two pit bulls were attacking a small dog, who was properly restrained in its yard and unable to run away from the attack. The three dogs were underneath the home when officers arrived, one of whom attempted to break up the dog fight, Hooper said.

"The officer crawled under the house to try to break it up. That's when one of the pit bulls turned on him," Hooper said.

The officer tried to subdue both dogs with pepper spray, but it was ineffective. The officer then shot one of the dogs that turned on him. Then the other pit bull turned on the officer, who shot that dog as well, Hooper said.

Hooper said animal control officers were called to the scene as well, but because of the nature of the incident, officers acted before animal control officers arrived.

Both dogs died as a result of the shooting and animal control took the bodies.

The owner of the two dogs appeared on the scene after the dogs were shot, and told officers the dogs had been restrained in his garage and somehow had forced their way out, Hooper said.

Officers saw no collars or any other signs indicating the dogs had been restrained. Hooper said the owner of the two dogs was in multiple violations of city ordinances.

"The owner of the pit bulls was issued citations," Hooper said. "The owner of the pit bulls also had municipal court warrants and was arrested."

No injuries were reported for the child or the officer. It's not clear what happened to the small dog, Hooper said.