police dog
This is a representational image of a police dog crawling through obstacles during trials in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, July 2, 2010. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin

A man was arrested after a six-hour-long stand-off with the police during which he bit a police dog after being bitten by the canine. The incident took place in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, on Thursday.

Police were called to the scene after a fight broke out between a man and a woman in a house at about 1.30 a.m. local time (3.30 a.m. EDT). The unidentified man was armed with an ax. The woman sustained severe injuries during the fight but managed to escape with the help of the cops. The suspect then proceeded to barricade himself inside the house owing to which the SWAT team was called.

After six hours of negotiation, the authorities decided to deploy the K-9. The dog approached the suspect and bit him but the man retaliated and bit the dog on the back of its neck. The canine was sent to the veterinarian and put on antibiotics.

The policemen capitalized on the situation in due time and arrested the suspect after a six-hour-long standoff. The suspect sustained minor injuries and was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

In a similar incident in New Hampshire, Manchester, in July, a suspect bit a K-9’s head while resisting arrest in a hotel. Police responded to the scene after receiving reports of a man “behaving erratically”.

In a statement, police said they “found a barricade once the hotel door was finally opened. Williams [suspect] was uncooperative. Since he wasn’t complying with their commands, NH State Police utilized their K-9 to affect the arrest."

The authorities added that the suspect, after initially struggling with the K-9’s attack, became more “belligerent”, growled at the dog, “opened his mouth and bit the dog on the top of the head”. Williams was charged with resisting arrest, simple assault and willful interference with police dogs. Police said the dog was not injured in the incident.