Police shoot dog after attack - New York News | NYC Breaking News

Police shoot dog after attack

Police shot a pit bull that attacked and mauled a man in Mount Vernon.

It happened on Monday on a Union Avenue sidewalk.

City officials say Jason McCrae, 29, was talking with someone when the dog came around the corner and attacked him.

According to witnesses, the dog, named Mike, attacked McCrae unprovoked.

Neighbors were unable to restrain the dog. When police arrived, they say the dog did not respond to commands so they shot it three times.

"If the police did not shoot the dog, the victim would have suffered even more severe injury", said Mayor Ernest D. Davis. "Witnesses reported that the dog was savagely working his way up the victim's arm".

The brother of the dog owner tells a different story about the incident.

He says the owner's son was walking the dog when it playfully jumped on the owner's son.  The man says McCrae thought the dog was attacking the boy and hit it with a stick.  The dog retaliated and attacked McCrae.

McCare was taken to Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx with serious injuries to his hand and arm.

Police say that the dog's owner, Jamal McDowell, was issued various violations related to animal control.  They say they have had previous contact with the dog and its owner but did not elaborate.