ALBUQUERQUE, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- A New Mexico sheriff's deputy was recovering from a severe bite on her arm Tuesday after a police dog attacked her forcing her to shoot it.
Detective Heather Schreckendgust, 36, may face surgery at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque after the incident Monday afternoon. She was not the dog's handler, and was supervising evidence collection when the Belgian malinois named Bart attacked, the Albuquerque Journal said.
Despite his handler's orders and Schreckendgust's struggling, the dog would not release her, and she shot it.
The dog also is named in a lawsuit for attacking and allegedly refusing to release a 49-year-old woman who had led police on a high-speed chase in 2003. The woman's suit claims the dog chewed on her arm and that an officer had to put a "shock collar" on the canine to get it to stop biting her. A jury trial is scheduled next year in that case.
