Dogwalkers be advised: Do not allow your dogs to pester police horses or a gun might come out. Especially if you didn't bother to leash them.
That's what happened Monday afternoon at Fort Dupont Park, where a U.S. Park Police officer was exercising a pair of police horses in a fenced-in paddock when a pack of unleashed dogs surrounded the fence and began snarling at the horses, The Washington Post reported. The officer then tried to lead the horses back into a nearby stable, but not before firing a shot or two into the ground to scare off the dogs.
Later on, the officer found the dogs huddled around a woman, who turned out to be a dog walker responsible for them. Already possessing outstanding warrants for traffic violations in Maryland and D.C., she will likely face additional charges for letting dogs run loose in a park and operating a business without a license. But at least she didn't get shot at.
The dogs, meanwhile, were taken away by animal control officers.
Hopefully for them, their horse-terrorizing days are over.