A Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office K-9 bit a child and the child’s father after escaping from his handler’s backyard in Castle Rock on Sunday.
On Sunday around 4 p.m., K-9 Ragnar escaped from his outdoor enclosure at Deputy Zachery Oliver’s home in Castle Rock and jumped a five-foot fence that separated the backyard from an adjacent yard.
The dog bit a child and the child’s father tried to intervene, the sheriff’s office said in a news release Wednesday. Oliver ‘gained control’ of Ragnar after realizing he had escaped.
Both the child and his father were treated at a hospital and are now recovering at home, the sheriff’s office said.
The agency is cooperating with an investigation by the Castle Rock Police Department and conducting an internal investigation.
Oliver is on paid administrative leave and Ragnar is in quarantine for ten days and is not allowed to have contact with people other than the handler and any animals.
Sheriff’s officials are assessing the dog’s future as a member of the K-9 unit, agency officials said Wednesday.
“We are devastated by this incident and are fully committed to supporting the family as they recover,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
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