A Mower County deputy shot two dogs on Thursday after one of them bit a man on the leg.

According to Chief Deputy Mark May, the Mower County Sheriff’s Office was called at 10:45 a.m. concerning a 62-year-old man who was bitten on the leg. The deputy met with the victim at his residence in the 57000 block of 227th Street. The man said he spotted three dogs, which he described as “pit bulls,” while he was mowing his lawn.

He said one of the dogs, which was brown, approached him aggressively and bit him on the leg. He was able to ward them off by punching and kicking at them.

The deputy observed scratches on the man’s leg, but the teeth had not broken the skin. He declined medical treatment.

The man and some neighbors expressed concern about the dogs’ aggressive behavior, according to May.

The deputy then went to the dog owners’ residence in the 57000 block of 225th Street. Two dogs, one brown and one black, approached the deputy barking and snapping. The deputy shot the brown dog after it lunged at him, tried to move backwards to get away from the other dog, and shot that one when it chased him and attempted to bite his leg, according to May.

The owners were notified and the dogs’ bodies were taken to the pound.

The dogs had been kept in an enclosure on the owners’ property and it is unclear how the dogs got out.