BALTIMORE (AP) — Attorneys for a Baltimore police officer accused of cutting a dog’s throat are asking a judge to dismiss the animal cruelty charge against him.

Lawyers representing officer Jeffrey Bolger say he had tried for an hour to restrain the dog, a Shar Pei named Nala, after she ran away from her owner and reportedly bit a pregnant woman outside of a bar in Baltimore on June 14. They made the claim in a motion to dismiss filed Thursday.

The lawyers argue that because the dog attacked a person and Bolger was unable to subdue the animal, he was authorized to “euthanize” her.

His lawyers say he chose to cut her throat because using a service weapon near a crowd posed too big a risk.

Bolger has been suspended without pay.

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