Aggressive Dog Shot During Adams Morgan Day Festival

A dog was shot and killed by a D.C. Police officer during the busy Adams Morgan Day Festival. According to eyewitnesses, the dog was shot after getting into a fight with a smaller dog and then biting two men. It happened in the 2300 block of 18 Street N.W.

Noah Siegel knew one of the men bitten by the dog. "I heard some dogs barking and some people screaming," Siegel said. "I love dogs but you can’t have dogs attacking people out in a crowd like this."

The dog, named Parrot, was listed on Petfinder.com as a Pit Bull Terrier and Staffordshire Bull Terrier mix. He had an adoption pending through Lucky Dog Animal Rescue. "By all accounts, Parrot was a sweet dog who had an adoption pending at the time he was killed," John Valentine of Lucky Dog Rescue wrote in an e-mail to NBC Washington.

A former metropolitan police officer witnessed the shooting. Tony De Passe described what happened:

“We were no more than 20 feet away when two dogs got into it," De Passe said. "The officers ran over to try to restrain one of the dogs. By now one dog came loose and bit a man. He fell to the ground. The officer then put his hand on the dog’s throat and tried to restrain the dog. The dog spun around and bit the officer on his hand. The officer picked up the dog and threw him over a banister. The dog fell down and ran back up the steps and lunged at the officer. By then he pulled out his gun and shot the dog dead.”

De Passe said said that the officers did everything they could to to quiet the dog, but that the animal was a danger to the crowd.

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