Dog recovering after being shot

Authorities are investigating whether pitbulls are vicious

Tank, a pitbull that was shot by Lodi police on Tuesday evening, is doing well after a visit to an emergency veterinarian that night. He and Irene Levels’ other dog, Baby, will stay at the Lodi Animal Shelter as authorities investigate whether or not these are vicious dogs, according to Lodi police Lt. Sierra Brucia.

The dogs will stay at the shelter for a minimum of 14 days during the investigation, Brucia said. Initially, the dogs had only five days to remain at the shelter before being euthanized, he said, but Levels has claimed ownership of the dogs.

She said she has chosen not to abandon them, but fight to get her dogs back.

“I could get a million people to testify that these dogs are not vicious. They may be overly rambunctious, but they’ve never bit anyone in their lives,” she said.

The situation began when a Lodi police officer was out posting no trespassing signs that had a message for transients to vacate the area near the intersection of Beckman and Victor roads. Levels, who is homeless, came out of her truck to greet the officer. Her dogs jumped out of the bed of the truck and ran toward the officer, barking.

While Levels believes that the dogs were being friendly toward the officer, Lodi police say that the loose dogs, Tank and Baby, were charging after the officer and were not under their owner’s control.

The officer fired several shots at Tank, striking him once, out of fear of being bitten, police said.

Levels was standing nearby but was not injured, and the officer was not bitten.