OWNER OF PIT BULLS MAY FACE CHARGES NEIGHBOR BITTEN; DEPUTIES SHOOT DOGS.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LAKE LOS ANGELES - County officials are considering misdemeanor charges against the owner of two pit bull dogs shot and killed by sheriff's deputies after the animals charged the officers.

The dogs were shot Friday after residents had reported that the dogs were loose and biting people, and Los Angeles County Animal Control officials said there was at least one prior incident in which the dogs had roamed free.

``Officers are completing their investigation. We do know the owner of the dogs. We expect to file charges later this week, either dangerous-dog or public-nuisance charges,'' said Kaye Michelson, spokeswoman with the Department of Animal Care and Control.

The incident occurred about noon Friday in the 40900 block of 178th Street East after one person was bit. The owner's name was not released.

Nick Corrigan said he was reading a newspaper inside his home when he heard a commotion outside. He went outside and saw the dogs, a small female and a large male, by the side of his house.

The female dog charged first, followed by the male, Corrigan said. ``The male got a hold of my hand, bit me and released me and then backed off.''

Corrigan said he ran into the house and got a shotgun, but by the time he came back out, the dogs were gone. Corrigan said he was treated for his injuries at Antelope Valley Hospital.

Deputies found the dogs near a house where no one was home and shot them after they ran toward the officers and tried to attack them, deputies said.

When animal-control officers arrived, one dog was dead and the other was severely injured, Michelson said. The wounded dog was taken to a local veterinarian's office, where it had to be euthanized because of the extent of the injuries, Michelson said.

Corrigan said he had seen the dogs loose on the street before and said they were a chronic problem in the neighborhood.

``A few of the neighbors told me they had nothing but problems with these dogs, and animal control had been out before,'' Corrigan said. ``The dogs were taken away and kept coming back.''

One neighbor said that one of the dogs chased him into his house, Corrigan said.

In August, animal-control officers rounded up two dozen roaming dogs in Lake Los Angeles and in north and east Lancaster in a crackdown inspired by an upsurge in pit-bull attacks since spring.

The sweep was part of an effort that includes increasing the Antelope Valley animal-control staff size, launching a public education campaign and stepping up efforts to identify and monitor potentially vicious dogs.

Animal-control officials reported in August that there were 23 dog attacks this year in the Antelope Valley, up from six in all of 2004. Of the attacks, all but one involved pit bulls or pit-bull mixes.

The worst came in March, when a 47-year-old woman was knocked down and mauled by a neighbor's pit bull-retriever mix. Sheriff's deputies shot the dog to death as it bit the woman's arm.

In six other incidents, pit bulls or pit-bull mixes caused minor injuries to people, and in eight cases they attacked other animals. Other incidents involved dogs menacing people.

Besides the Quartz Hill dog and before Friday's incident, Lancaster sheriff's deputies have shot five other pit bulls or pit-bull mixes that threatened them this year, and Palmdale sheriff's deputies shot to death a dog that chased children walking to school.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com