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LA County Fire Chief Fatally Beats Puppy

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A six-month-old German shepherd mix allegedly bit a neighbor's thumb as he tried to bring the puppy back to its owner after it escaped into a Woodcrest neighborhood street. Glynn Johnson said the dog, Karley, wouldn't let go and said he did whatever he had to do to protect himself.

Karley was so badly beaten, she had to be put to sleep. The vet who treated her said she had never seen that "level of head injury" before.

"I knew from watching the whole incident the dog wasn't going to make it. It just was a gruesome sight," a neighbor who witnessed the incident told ABC. "He was prying her jaws apart and grabbed a rock and started beating her with a rock."

Johnson is an assistant fire chief for LA County and is on administrative leave with pay until more facts become clear during the Riverside County Sheriff's Department's investigation who say the two differing stories from Johnson and the neighbor will make it a challenge.

Photo via Vet via ABC7

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