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Some of the video may be consider graphic. Two dogs were shot dead this afternoon. The shooter claimed they posed a threat to himself and another family.
A pregnant mother and her two young boys said they were about to get bit by those two dogs. Now, the owner of the dogs is facing charges for letting them run free through a Magna neighborhood.
Jeanna Peterson was giving her children a bath when she heard what turned out to be the end for two pit bulls. "He said he shot the first dog point blank between the eyes. The other dog he shot twice," Peterson said.
Peterson said he told her the dogs were chasing a family as they were getting in their car, and he basically coaxed the dogs to go after him.
When deputies from the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office arrived, they talked to the man, heard his side of the story and decided not to charge him with anything. Instead, deputies believe he may have saved that family from getting attacked.
Salt Lake County Deputy Debi Wilkinson said, "We concluded the investigation and determined he was justified due to the fact that he [the dog] posed a threat to innocent civilians."
Peterson said she has seen one of the dogs roaming the neighborhood on several occasions. In fact, she claimed one time it came after her. She said, "It actually did chase me into my car once, and I had my two little kids with me. So yeah, that dog was a hazard dog."
The bodies of both dogs were taken back to their owner. He is now charged with two counts of allowing his dogs to run loose and two counts of his dogs attacking.
Wilkinson said, "If people feel threatened by any type of animal and it's running at large, they are justified in shooting. If they feel threatened, they're totally within their rights to protect themselves and innocent people."
The family that claimed it was being attacked didn't want to talk to us, neither did the guy who pulled the trigger.
We also tried to talk to the owners of the dogs, but they wouldn't comment either; however, someone claiming to be the dogs' owner posted a message on our Web site saying those dogs would never attack someone.
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com
