Mallorca copper injured in pitball attack

A PÌTBULL terrier attacked and injured a policeman attending the scene of a burning hut in Mallorca capital Palma in the early hours of Saturday.
The dog reportedly leapt on the officer and bit him several times in the face while firefighters were putting out the flames consuming the shack next to the old Bunyola road next to Son Fusteret, which had been lived in by down-and-outs.
The policeman fired a couple of shots to get the terrier off him and the animal fled into undergrowth.
The officer had to be taken by ambulance to a Palma clinic to be treated for injuries to his face.
According to reports local and national police patrols had gone to the scene of the fire after a number of people called it in to the emergency services.
When they got there they discovered the terrier was tied to a tree near to the blaze. They told the owner to untie and hang on to his dog, but he let it go and it went for one of the policemen.
It was also reported the dog was accidentally strangled to death when its owner tried to capture it with a steel snare after the attack on the officer.
Meanwhile it took Palma firefighters two hours to extinguish the flames, although they had to return a few hours later when the fire started up again.