Three pit bull attacks come in one morning

Police shoot two after they turn on their pregnant owner; two cats killed in separate incidents

The attack occurred just before 10:30 a.m. on a wooded path in The Downs neighborhood of East Village, according to police.

The 28-year-old woman — who is ‘‘six or seven months” pregnant — was walking the two pit bulls and a German shepherd when a woman walking a pug approached from the other direction, said Officer Diane Tillery, community services officer for the 6th District Police station.

The two mixed-breed pit bulls became agitated and attacked each other. When their owner tried to intervene, one of them turned on her and attacked.

The dog’s jaws clamped on her arm, the pregnant woman ‘‘hit the dog on its head” and managed to tear herself free, then sat on the sidewalk clutching her bloody arm, Tillery said.

The other woman ran to the nearest house and called police.

The dogs were still fighting when the police officer arrived, said police spokeswoman Officer Melanie Hadley. After checking on the woman, the officer fired three shots, killing both dogs.

‘‘She asked [him] to put the dogs down,” Tillery said.

Montgomery County Police Animal Services Division was on its way with a Taser, Tillery said, but the officer ‘‘couldn’t wait,” because of the severity of the situation. A Fire and Rescue crew arrived at 10:40 a.m. and the Animal Services officer arrived at 10:50 a.m., Hadley said.

In trying to break up animal attacks, Animal Services officers employ a variety of non-lethal gear, including snares, catch poles and pepper spray, said Steve Bartlett, field services supervisor for the department. Six of the county’s nine Animal Control officers are trained to use Tasers.

‘‘In every case, Montgomery County police are seeking to use the least force possible. But when someone’s life is in danger, and potentially an officer’s life is in danger, it’s certainly an authorized use of force,” said police spokeswoman Lucille Baur.

The pregnant woman was taken to a hospital with ‘‘severe bite injuries to her arm and scratches to her cheek,” according to a police statement.

Other attacks

In two separate attacks earlier that morning, two cats died as a pit bull and a cocker spaniel ran loose in a Gaithersburg neighborhood a few hundred yards from Gaithersburg Elementary and Gaithersburg Middle schools.

Gaithersburg Animal Control has attributed both deadly cat attacks on a 2-year-old pit bull named Princess, which lived with the cocker spaniel nearby, said director Lisa Holland.

A city Animal Control officer seized the cocker spaniel, but the pit bull got away before eventually returning home, Holland said.

The owners of both dogs were fined $100 for having their dogs on the loose.

City Manager David B. Humpton ordered Princess permanently banned from Gaithersburg, Holland said, because of the danger it posed.

‘‘I’ve been here 20 years, we’ve banned maybe six dogs,” she said, two of which were pit bulls.

In that time, Humpton has ordered two dogs euthanized — a German shepherd four years ago and a mixed breed Chow-Labrador Retriever 12 years ago. Both were because of ‘‘severe attacks” on people, Holland said.

As of Tuesday, Princess the pit bull remained at the Montgomery County Animal Shelter.

‘‘We don’t know what’s going to happen with it,” said a receptionist who did not want to give her name.