Escaped pit bulls bit four people in North Babylon, Suffolk police say

Three pit bulls bit four people and prompted a responding police officer to shoot at them — the canines were unharmed — after they escaped from a backyard in North Babylon Monday night, Suffolk police said.

Police responded to a call of a loose pit bull and a person bitten at 7:22 p.m., police said.

Three pit bulls had escaped from a yard on Wood Road, a police spokesman said in an email.

"The dogs bit four residents. All four residents required non-life threatening medical treatment," the spokesman said. Two of the residents who were bitten were treated at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, police said.

The dogs retreated and escaped multiple times, police said. They attacked a Suffolk County First Precinct officer and “an independent contractor from New York State who responds to animal complaints,” police said.

The officer fired two shots but the dogs were not struck, police said.

The dogs then again retreated back to their yard. The owner of the home arrived and secured the dogs, police said.

Police Monday night did not immediately know what time the owner returned home and corralled the dogs.

The owner maintained possession of the dogs late Monday night, police said.

Officers notified the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Babylon Town dog warden. The investigation was ongoing, police said.