A 32-year-old man and his dog both ended up dead following a medical emergency Saturday morning in the Widewater area of Stafford County.
Stafford Sheriff’s Maj. Shawn Kimmitz said deputies went to Sandy Lane about 9:21 a.m. in response to a report that a man was unresponsive in a backyard. Deputies were unable to get close to the fallen man because of an aggressive dog that was apparently trying to protect its owner.
When the dog charged toward a deputy, Kimmitz said, the dog was shot and wounded. Animal control arrived and took the dog for treatment at a local animal hospital, but the decision was made that the dog had to be euthanized.
“The dog came at [the deputy] so fast there was not much else he could do,” Kimmitz said.
The man in the backyard was found to be deceased. Police did not release a cause of death, but said that no foul play is suspected.