The following excerpt is from Lowry v. City of San Diego, 858 F.3d 1248 (9th Cir. 2017):
Smith v. City of Hemet , 394 F.3d 689, 70102 (9th Cir. 2005) (en banc), we held that the use of a police dog constituted excessive force where the officers sicced the dog on the plaintiff three times, including once after he had already been pinned down, and then pepper sprayed his open wounds. Similarly, in Chew , we concluded that "the force used to arrest [the plaintiff] was severe" because the dog bit the plaintiff three times, dragged him between four and ten feet, and "nearly severed" his arm. 27 F.3d at 1441. On the other hand, in Miller v. Clark County , we held that the use of force, although considerable and serious, was nonetheless reasonable and did not rise to the level of "deadly force," even though the dog apprehended a fleeing suspect with a bite that lasted between forty-five and sixty seconds, "shredded" the plaintiff's muscles, and reached the bone. 340 F.3d at 96166.
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