STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Baby Girl was on the verge of being euthanized by Animal Care and Control when Patricia Ratz intervened and took the young pit bull in for foster care last fall.

Fast-forward more than six months, and the 2-year-old dog is staring down death once again, this time after being shot by a police officer, says the dog's owner.

Ms. Ratz and others are disputing claims made by police after a Saturday afternoon biting incident that resulted in at least one officer critically wounding the dog inside the ball field at Schmul Park in Travis.

While Ms. Ratz and her sister, Kathleen Dixon, were walking their three pit bulls, two of them -- not Baby Girl -- began to quarrel. Ms. Ratz tried to break up the fight, but one of the dogs bit her hand.

Police said Saturday responding officers tried to help her, and in the attempt to get the dog off her, shots were fired.

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Ms. Ratz says that's not the case.

"We had them separated, we had everything calm," Ms. Ratz said of the dogs, adding that her hand was scratched up and she shouldn't have put it near the animals. "A cop comes from the street with her gun pointed straight at the dogs, and she just started shooting. She could've shot me, or my sister, or the kids [in the park]."

Two officers arrived, said Ms. Ratz and Ms. Dixon, who says she's also an NYPD officer, and when Ms. Dixon told them to not fire, she said they disregarded her plea.

"I kept yelling at her that I'm a cop, to not shoot the dogs. They're not aggressive, they're not going to bite," said Ms. Dixon.

One female officer, Julie Moschella, was in uniform, while the other, a male, was dressed in civilian clothing, said Ms. Dixon, saying the man did not identify himself. Both sisters say at least three shots and as many as 10 were fired in the Travis park.

After the officers arrived, Ms. Ratz's two pit bulls were spooked and fled the scene, resulting in police gunfire. The other dog, Bo, was not injured and found not long afterward. Baby Girl was struck in the back and was later found in a cage inside a police vehicle, the sisters said.

When reached by phone, Ms. Moschella declined comment, referring all questions to the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information office.

When asked about the accusations, a police spokeswoman for that office declined to be quoted by name and would only say the matter is being investigated.

At the time of this writing Sunday night, Baby Girl had already undergone two surgeries at Garden State Veterinary Specialists, Tinton Falls, N.J. According to the family, the greatest concern is infection.

"She's fighting for her life right now," said Ms. Ratz.

Last fall, Baby Girl was minutes away from being euthanized, said Courtney Bellow, of the Northeast Region of Special Needs Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation (SNARR), which tries to match at-risk dogs with a home before they're put down.

Ms. Bellow paired Baby Girl with Ms. Ratz, who already had fostered three dogs, one of which she adopted. Ms. Bellow said animal shelter volunteers who dealt with the dog raved about her good behavior.

The longtime Travis resident quickly developed a connection with the white and brown pit bull.

"I would've felt bad if I didn't adopt her. She was so attached to me," said Ms. Ratz. "I can walk out of my house and I can put her in sit or stay, and a dog or cat will walk by, and she will not dare move unless I give her the OK."

Since joining the family, Baby Girl has never injured another living being, including Ms. Ratz's rabbit, who often plays with the dog, she said.

SNARR's founder, Robin Menard, of Louisiana, shared the sisters' story via Facebook, prompting scores of the social media site users to spread the story.