Dog aggression leads to one animal dying in Jefferson Monday evening.

According to the Jefferson Police Department, the incident happened around 5:19pm in the 400 block of West Adams Street. According to the report, officers responded to a dog bite.

A female told officers that she was walking her yorkie on a leash, when two German shepherds approached her, and started attacking the yorkie. Four other dogs also got involved, as a male was running towards them. The yorkie was killed following the incident. 

During the investigation, the officer learned the six dogs that were running at large belonged to Larry Jon Hovick. Police Chief Mark Clouse says the two German shepherds were deemed “illegal animals,” by city code, which means a domesticated animal bit another domesticated animal. As per city code, Clouse says the owner was given two choices to either have the dogs removed from city limits or euthanized. The owner elected to remove them from city limits and gave information and location of where the canines would be at. 

Clouse notes the other four dogs that were involved were allowed to go back to Hovick because they did not bite the yorkie. The female was not injured from the incident. Hovick was cited for six counts of animals running at large-prohibited. Additionally, all animals were up-to-date on their rabies vaccinations.