Warren County Deputy Sheriff Dustin Keys was bitten in the left leg by a dog on Friday when he was responding to a call on the 500 block of Kirkland Rd.

“He was responding to a complaint from a citizen that a neighbor’s dog had attacked his smaller dog in his yard,” Sheriff Martin Pace said. “Deputy Keys had made contact with the original caller and had gone to the home where the aggressive dog reportedly lived.”

According to Pace, Keys was getting out of his car when he was attacked in the left leg. The dog that attacked Keys was reportedly the same dog that was the cause of the original call.

“It injured his leg and penetrated through his uniform pants,” Pace said. “He did have puncture wounds in his leg. He drove himself to the emergency room and he was treated and released for a dog bite.”

Pace said Key’s wound did not require stitches, but he was given antibiotics as a precaution.

According to Georgia Lynn of the Vicksburg Warren Humane Society, the dog was a mixed breed with a medium build and long reddish brown hair. The Humane Society’s efforts to capture the dog Friday were unsuccessful, but the owner brought the dog to the Humane Society Saturday.

“The owner said she wants the dog back and did not want to owner surrender,” Lynn said.

The owner reportedly informed Lynn that the dog was not up to date on its rabies vaccine. Under Mississippi state law, the dog must be impounded at the Humane Society at the owner’s expense for a 10-day observation period to see if it displays symptoms of rabies.

“The first sign of anything abnormal I have to rush it to the vet,” Lynn said.

It is not possible to test for rabies in a living dog and if it displays symptoms, the dog will have to be euthanized for a rabies test to be performed on its brain.