SHAMOKIN, Pa. -- Police say they were forced to shoot and kill a dog Monday afternoon as it was attacking a woman on her front porch.
Police in Shamokin say shooting and killing a dog in the middle of a busy street was a last resort. Officers say the dog was viciously attacking a woman.
According to Shamokin police, a large-breed dog attacked a woman at her home on Sunbury Street. The dog is owned by the woman's boyfriend.
Neighbors and people who were driving by tried getting the dog off the woman with shovels, a sidewalk ice scraper, and a stroller, but the dog kept biting.
You could still see the blood on the porch on Sunbury Street where police say a woman in her 40s was viciously attacked by her boyfriend's dog. According to Shamokin police, the dog attacked the woman just before 1 p.m. Monday.
"The dog drug her out by her hair onto the porch and kept attacking her legs and wouldn't stop attacking her legs and bit her arms," said Jessica Snyder.
Some people who live on Sunbury Street not only saw what happened but tried to help. Neighbors tried to drive the large dog off the woman with shovels, a sidewalk ice scraper, and a stroller.
"Kept biting her. Everybody tried everything to get the dog to stop attacking her, but the dog wouldn't stop attacking her," Snyder said.
Shamokin police believe the dog was a cross between an American bulldog and a pit bull. Officers shocked the dog twice but said it continued to maul the woman.
Shamokin police tell Newswatch 16 they had no choice but to shoot the dog, and they did it as a last resort.
"I came out, and all I see is a dog laying on the ground," said James Snyder.
Snyder says his nephew and other small children were in the area at the time of the dog attack.
"It was scary knowing they were around, but as long as they were safe," Snyder said.
People we spoke with said they wish the dog did not have to die but understand why police shot it.
Shamokin police tell us they shot the dog for the safety of the victim and the bystanders. Police say there were no civilians in the immediate area where they shot the dog. The victim is in fair condition at Geisinger Medical Center.