Pit Bull Owner Fatally Shoots Dog, Fearing It Would Attack Children

A Connecticut dog owner fatally shot his own pet out of fear, that it would attack children in a park. Hamden police said the incident took place Sunday when Walter Haller was walking his pit bull off leash.

Haller reportedly told officers that dog attacked and seriously injured another pet that was being walked, in Pine Rock Park at Brook Street and Wintergreen Avenue.

Authorities said that the other dog received "serious injuries." The owner of the injured dog was also with his three children at the time, Fox News reported.

Haller told police that he was concerned that his pit bull would target the children next. In order to save them, he pulled out his licensed .22-caliber handgun and shot the pet, killing it, Capt. Ronald Smith said in a press release.

Hamden police department is currently investigating the incident.

Pit bulls are the most controversial dogs in the U.S. and make headlines when they attack humans because the injuries are typically severe and sometimes fatal.

In September, DogsBite.org released their 13-year fatality report identifying breeds of dogs involved in U.S. attacks between 2005 and 2017. The report showed that the pit bull is still responsible for the most fatal attacks in the U.S. by far, killing 284 people over that 13-year period, which is 66 percent of total fatalities. The breed accounts for just 6.5 percent of the total U.S. dog population.

In another incident last week, a pit bull attacked and killed another dog during a walk in the Savannah Station neighborhood in the city of Alachua, Florida. The deceased dog's owner told police that she and her mother were walking 7-year-old Fred when the attack took place. The incident was caught on camera, and the video went viral on Facebook.

Earlier this month, a 70-year-old Georgia woman was left disfigured and her Siberian Husky dead after being attacked by a pit bull. The incident sparked outrage among the neighbors who were concerned about the breed.

In August this year, a two-year-old boy died from injuries caused during an attack by a pair of pit bull dogs inside a Philadelphia home. Police arrived at the scene and found six pit bulls inside the home. Two of the pit bulls were attacking the boy and another adult, according to reports. The police fired at all the dogs inside the house and in the process, killed them all.

In June, Delta Air Lines banned “pit bull-type dogs,” from flying in their aircrafts, both as pets as well as emotional support animals.

“We must err on the side of safety,” Delta said in a statement at the time. "...We struggled with the decision to expand the ban to service animals, knowing that some customers have legitimate needs, but we have determined that untrained, pit bull-type dogs posing as both service and support animals are a potential safety risk."