PARK HILLS, Mo. (News First) – A family dog was killed after it attacked its elderly owners over the weekend just outside of Park Hills. St. Francois County Sheriff candidate Jasen Crump says the incident happened to his neighbors, who are both in their seventies, on Saturday night (Aug 3rd).
“On August 3rd at approximately 10:20 p.m., I heard someone beating on my front door screaming for help. We went to the door to find our elderly female neighbor covered in blood. She said their family dog was attacking her husband, and she was afraid he was deceased. I immediately called dispatch as I was going across the street to check on the male. My wife stayed with the female neighbor to check her injuries,” he says in a statement.
“When my son and I got to the house, the husband was located with severe bleeding, and the dog was still aggressively biting him. Unfortunately, I had no choice but to use lethal force on the dog to stop the attack,” he states. “Officers arrived shortly after the dog was neutralized and assisted us in removing the male from the home so EMS could treat him.”
The female was transported to a local hospital and released a short time later. The male was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital in critical but stable condition and is expected to survive.
Crump says the incident is believed to have stemmed from the male falling due to a medical issue and startling the dog, which was a ten-year-old boxer/Great Dane mix the family had owned for years.
“I am very familiar with this family and their dog. I never dreamed of anything like this ever happening. I’m just glad we were home at the time and able to stop the attack. I’m afraid a few more minutes of the violent attack would have had a completely different outcome,” Crump says.
The St. Francois County Ambulance, Park Hills Fire Department, Park Hills Police Department, Arch Helicopter, and the St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene.
The St. Francois County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed the story, but says it cannot comment due to it being an open investigation.
