Police shot and killed two pitbulls after they chased a family into a house and tried to attack schoolchildren in Malabar on Wednesday afternoon.

Police said Arima police received a report of pitbulls on the loose at around 2.45 pm and went the Malabar Branch Road, where they met a man who told them the dogs had run into his yard.

The man led his family inside and locked the door.

Police went into the yard, where they saw the dogs biting at a fence trying to get into a dog kennel holding other dogs.

On seeing the police, the pitbulls ran towards the officers, who ran away towards higher ground at the side of the property.

Police shot at the dogs but only hit one of them, killing it.

The second dog ran away and jumped over a wall onto Henri Street, Malabar, where it chased two schoolchildren. The officers chased the dog and shot it several times, killing it.

Police from the Northern Division crime scene investigations unit visited and found eight spent shells from the officers' weapons.

The owner removed the dogs' bodies .

Police said they are continuing enquiries into what led to the attack and whether the owner of the animals properly secured the compound where they were kept.

Section 9 of the Dog Control Act mandates that pitbull owners ensure the areas where the dogs are kept are secured by a fence or wall of "the prescribed dimensions and that such fence of wall is so constructed and maintained as to prevent the escape of the dog."

Someone who fails to do so is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $50,000 and to imprisonment for a year.

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