In January, an El Dorado County Supervisor climbed up a 75 foot tree to save a kitten. Now, Los Gatos Mayor Joe Pirzynski has thrown his hat into the ring for the most heroic animal rescue of the year by a public official.

At a recent city concert, the mayor was settling in to enjoy a Michael Jackson tribute band, when he was alerted by some screaming nearby. When he investigated, he found a pit bull had a Yorkshire Terrior by the neck and was shaking the little dog back and forth.

He, and another council member, started to fight back for the small dog, punching and striking the pit bull to try to get it to let go of the dog. In the process, he was apparently cut several times on the hand by the dog’s teeth.

From the San Jose Mercury News:

Mayor Joe Pirzynski is used to being in the center of things. After all, he sits in the middle chair at Los Gatos Town Council meetings on the first and third Monday of every month.

And in that role, the mayor admits to having had to deal with many community residents and fellow council members over the years who he could classify as pit bulls.

Pirzynski, though, found himself in a situation much more dangerous than a Monday night council meeting on June 26 when he put himself in harm’s way in a valiant attempt to save a small dog under attack during a Music in the Park program at the Los Gatos Civic Center.

Read the full article here.