By Roger Lanse

According to a Silver City Police Department report, a male and a female jogger reported that ,as they were running past a S. Cooper Street residence on Friday, Jan. 16, at noon, a gray and white female pitbull ran out of a yard towards the joggers and bit the man on the rear of his left upper thigh. The report stated the man said he hit the dog in the head with his fist and the dog "let go and ran back into the yard."

Officers were dispatched to the residence a few minutes later but could not find anyone home, the report stated. However, they could hear a dog barking in the back yard. Officers, according to the report, found the dog, barking, on the back porch, and while unsuccessfully attempting to put a noose at the end of a catch pole around the dog's neck, the female pitbull charged the officers "growling viciously." One of the officers discharged his service weapon three times and on the third shot "the dog spun to the ground at my feet," the report said.

According to the report, the male jogger was treated at Gila Regional Medical Center and released, where it was determined his skin had not been punctured, but pinched.

The dog's owner has been identified, but according to SCPD Chief Ed Reynolds, the owner's name has not been released pending any charges which may be filed.

The dog's head was placed into cold storage in the SCPD's evidence room until it could be shipped to the State Epidemiology Office to be tested.