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Published on 06/01/1998 All articles from this issue

Dogs attack sheep in Los Altos back yard - officer shoots 1 dog in self-defense

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

After two dogs attacked two sheep in a local back yard, one of the dogs was shot and killed by a police officer as it jumped a fence "charging the officers," police said.

Los Altos Police received a call that two large dogs were "mauling two medium-sized sheep inside the pen" and responded at 3:35 p.m. Thursday to the 1200 block of Richardson Avenue, said Los Altos Police officer Mark Macaulay.

When police officers arrived at the south Los Altos residence, near Grant Road and Fremont Avenue, they found "two large aggressive dogs in a pen area" that were "aggressive to the officers when they approached the pen," Macaulay said.

The dog that was killed was described by police as a pit bull/Labrador mix.

Police called the staff at Palo Alto Animal Services who came and picked up both dogs.

Neither dog was wearing any tags and no one has come forward to claim either one, police said.

The sheep owners took the sheep to Adobe Animal Hospital in Los Altos where they are being treated for their injuries, said Los Altos resident Steve George who was at the hospital at the time the sheep were brought in.

On Friday a hospital spokeswoman declined to comment on the condition of the sheep, citing patient and client confidentiality.

The second dog is a Siberian husky, said Penelope Wade, a supervisor at animal services.

"It's pretty unusual for dogs to be attacking sheep," she said. In her seven years with Palo Alto Animal Services, she said she had never heard of it.

She said Animal Services does not know if the dogs came from the same household.

Police are asking that anyone with information on the incident or the dog owners to call the Los Altos Police Department at 948-8223.