Two Reno police officers were viciously attacked by three canines at a Reno homeless encampment, near the Truckee River on Thursday. The area that the many homeless people was living in is just to the East of South Virginia St, which runs from North Reno, past the University of Nevada, through Downtown Reno, then it goes into midtown, finally stretching all the way down to the southernmost parts of Reno. Before the Reno dog attack, the two police had headed to the encampment to discuss services for the homeless provided by the City of Reno, Washoe County and the State of Nevada. The encampment is just on the riverbank near Commercial Row near the recycling center operated by Waste Management Corporation. The Washoe County canine bite incident happened around 2:20 p.m. when three dogs that were off of their leashes lunged after the police. The cops backed away from the dogs but were not far enough to elude the animals. The police officers first used batons to fend off the animals but eventually had to use even more force to protect themselves. One of the policemen tasered one of the dogs, and after being hit by the non-lethal weapon, the dog ran away.
Two of the three dogs persisted in attacking the police officers as officers continued to try to fend them off by kicking, punching and more. One dog even leaped up to try to bite the police officers. Eventually, in the interest of his and his partner’s safety on of the police officers used his service weapon on the charging dogs and shot the dog. The dog shot in the Northern Nevada animal strike survived the shooting and was taken to a local animal hospital. The other dogs in the attack were taken by Washoe County Animal Control to a shelter. Police spoke with owners of the dogs but no one was arrested.
The two police officers had entered the homeless encampment to make the residents aware of the services that are available to them from the city, county, state and federal government. The police officers even provide addresses for food banks, homeless shelters and other services not provided by branches of the state. In fact, a new homeless shelter was opened on Wells Avenue to service those who were camping along the river near the recycling plant. While the two police officers were given the remainder of the day off after the attack, Reno police are continuing efforts to assist the city’s homeless population.