Police in Gatineau, Que. say they were forced to shoot and kill two dogs who attacked officers.
The officers arrived an apartment building around 4 a.m. on Sunday after receiving a complaint about a disturbance, CBC News reported.
A neighbour said that a man inside the apartment was bleeding, according to the Ottawa Citizen, but the occupants still refused to open the door. They also closed the windows and threatened to release dogs on the officers if they tried to enter.
Police were worried someone inside was injured, and so they forced the door open, said CBC. The suspects released the two dogs, who reportedly charged at the first officer. Officers shot and killed both pets as self-defence, said police.
One dog was a pit bull, and the other a German shepherd-Labrador retriever mix, the SPCA told CBC. A witness told the news network that he believed the officers were justified in shooting the animals, adding that the German shepherd-Lab mix was the more aggressive of the pair.
Three men in their mid-20s were arrested for uttering threats, obstructing an investigation and assaulting police officers. One suspect was hospitalized with minor injuries, and one of the police officers was also hurt, CTV News reported.
An inquiry will determine whether the dogs were released with the intention of harming the police officers, Gatineau police Sgt. Christian Tremblay told Le journal de Montréal.
Gatineau's deputy mayor Louise Boudrias said that municipal regulations around dogs that could be dangerous did not apply, given that the dogs were indoors.
Also on HuffPost: