Owner: Harrisburg, Pa. police wrong to shoot pit bulls

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A central Pennsylvania man says police were wrong to kill his two pit bulls after he reported them missing.

Brandon Zimmerman says he wants to know why Harrisburg police captured the dogs and took them somewhere else before killing them earlier this week.

City officials say officers destroyed the dogs because they had killed a cat and were endangering children. Spokesman Robert Philbin says they threatened the public’s safety.

Zimmerman says the dogs, Eve and Ruckas, were friendly. He believes some neighborhood kids may have let the dogs out of his yard.

Humane society officials say dogs must be kept for 48 hours at a kennel before they are euthanized. The Humane Society of Harrisburg says it was not accepting dogs from the city because its contract hadn’t been renewed.