Boy Injured Trying To Separate Fighting Dogs

PINE ISLAND, Minn. (WCCO) -- A 9-year-old boy is recovering at home after being injured trying to break up a fight between his two pit bulls.

Firefighters couldn't separate the dogs with a hose, so a sheriff's deputy shot one of them with a taser, and it later died.

Michael Goodman, the 9-year-old, has a few scratches and puncture wounds above his ankle from trying to get between his fighting pets.

"It was really stressful," he said, "and it was hard to watch."

Tuesday morning, fire crews and a sergeant from the Goodhue County Sheriff's Office rushed to the home, where two of the Goodmans' three pit bulls were fighting in a fenced-in area.

A neighbor heard the screams of Goodman and his pregnant sister, Mikayla, 18, who suffered cuts to her fingers.

But their father, Jason Goodman, is now questioning the actions of the officer.

"I think if they would've been golden retrievers or black labs or something, I think it would've been handled entirely different," he said.

One dog, named Duke, died after Sgt. Nick Novak used his taser to end the fight.

"Their jaws were locked," he said. "They were definitely in a fight to the end."

Novak believes if he hadn't used the taser, it would've been worse.

"It kind of looked like both dogs were going to be deceased if they continued," he said.

Michael's dad said he'll fight any efforts by the county to put an "aggressive" label on the family's other dog, Chaos, that survived. He said he doesn't believe his two children were ever in any danger.

Novak said he's had to use his taser a half-dozen times over the years on aggressive dogs, and this is the first time that one has died.

He believes the wounds suffered in the fight contributed to the dog's death.

The director of the Humane Society in Goodhue County, Anna Ostendorf, said the agency has adopted out hundreds of pit bulls that have become great family pets.

She said they're not any more likely to bite than other breeds.

When any two dogs fight, she said children should always keep their distance. If adults are present, she said they could try to separate the dogs by putting a firm object between them or, if possible, by putting a leash on the dogs to pull them away.