PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The deadly shooting of a dog by an FBI agent near South 16th and Spruce streets In Center City earlier in the week remains under investigation. Reports indicate the dog was fighting with the agent’s dog before the shooting occurred.
The Pennsylvania SPCA says there are ways to safely break up a dog fight, suggesting the least-invasive ways first.
The organization places what it calls dog bite emergency kits throughout its North Philadelphia location. It contains items like an air horn, a whistle, mace and a bite stick.
“A bite stick is a wooden stake, for lack of a better word. It’s basically used to put into a dogs mouth to remove them from a bite situation when they are not opening their mouth in any other way,” said PSPCA Director of Lifeaving Maddie Bernstein.
“Hypothetically, if I were to have a dog latch onto something, I could insert this and put it in their mouth with a prying motion.”
Overseeing the animal behavior department is among her duties.
”If I have a dog fight, I can go ‘HEY!’ [while clapping your hands] or ‘OFF!’ or something that is loud and abrasive,” she said.
She adds that citronella spray could also help, as it tastes and smells bad to dogs.
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“Ideally, you want to keep dogs on leashes. You can get their leash and pull back once they let go,” Bernstein said while snapping her fingers.
“That’s going to be the key timing to get in there and remove them from the situation.“
Bernstein said to never put your hands near the mouths of fighting dogs.
She suggests putting a bite kit around your waist when taking your dog out for a walk.
“This is my personal treat pouch which I carry every time I handle a dog in the shelter,” said Bernstein. “It has all of my basics in it, so I have high value-treats, my clicker, I put poop bags in there, and then I have my safety tools which are my air horn, citronella spray and a bite stick.”
Mace is also a good tool to have, she says. It will irritate the nose, eyes and skin, temporarily incapacitating the aggressive dog.