By Khalida Sarwari
A Monterey County Sheriff’s dog was euthanized Wednesday after it escaped and mauled a family dog to death and attacked another dog.
The owner of the dog, named Bosco, let him out of the house for a break in the Aromas area around 3 a.m. but Bosco took off running and did not return to his handler when he was called, according to the sheriff’s office.
Sheriff’s deputies and a helicopter helped search for the dog but were not able to find him. Residents in the Aromas area were notified to look out for Bosco via a telephonic emergency notification system.
At 9 a.m., a resident in the 200 block of Carneros Road called 911 to report that a dog had killed their family dog and had attacked another dog, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies responded to the home and found Bosco in a kennel placed in the home’s yard.
Bosco was transported to the Monterey County Animal Control shelter where he was euthanized.
The sheriff’s office issued a statement saying that the decision to euthanize the dog was “a difficult one, but in light of a prior incident, a decision that had to be made.”