The latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Heartland

OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Some Ottumwa residents are up in arms after a dog was shot and killed by a police officer.

A letter to the Ottumwa Courier complained of excessive force in the killing of a dog back on Jan. 27.

Ottumwa Police Chief Jim Clark refutes the letter saying the dog in question not only was aggressive it attacked four people and the police officer.

“That dog attacked,” said Clark.  “It wasn’t just a friendly little playful dog sitting in someone’s yard.  It attacked four people.  We were called twice within about five minutes begging us to get there before someone got hurt bad.”

A mother was walking her 4-year-old daughter to a school bus stop when the dog chased them back to their house.  According to Clark the bus driver witnessed this and got off the bus to help.  The dog then tried to attack the driver.  Later that morning police were called about the same dog and a senior citizen.

The dog did not have a license or vaccination tags.

According to Clark when the officer arrived the dog charged the officer twice but was pepper-sprayed both times.  After the dog charged a third time the officer shot the animal wounding it.  The dog then retreated behind a house. According to Clark, the dog charged one more time before the officer fatally shot the animal.

Chief Clark says the biggest problem is not the use of force shown by his officer but rather the owner of the dog.

“The problem is not that the police shot the dog.  What I don’t understand is why the community is not in an uproar why another irresponsible pet owner let their dog run loose without being licensed or vaccinated with this result.”

Although the dog never bit the officer Chief Clark says he doesn’t want to risk a serious attack on one of his officers.

“If anyone has seen a serious and I mean a serious dog bite, I don’t mean just teeth marks in the skin, but a dog bite where it removes a hunk of flesh from a person that’s very serious and I don’t expect my officers to take a bite before they defend themselves.”

We want to know what you think about what cities and towns should do with animals that attack by commenting on our story.