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SAN FRANCISCO — The district attorney’s office has completed its behavioral testing of Hera, a 113-pound dog involved in the deadly attack on a San Francisco woman in late January, a move that could clear the way for killing the dog. 

“The dog was being kept alive so certain behavioral and physical tests could be conducted,” Fred Gardner, a spokesman for District Attorney Terence Hallinan, said Friday. “Those tests were conducted last night.” 

Hera was declared “vicious and dangerous” at a hearing last week. But Hallinan got a court order to keep the dog alive, saying it might serve as evidence should charges be brought against the dogs’ owners, Robert Noel and Marjorie Knoller. 

Hera was tested late Thursday to see how it reacted to a man, a woman and a child. Behaviorists were not asked to determine whether Hera had been trained to attack.  

“At this point we’re satisfied with what we’ve accomplished, but we haven’t made a final determination or decision that we’re finished,” prosecutor Kimberly Guilfoyle said Friday. “That decision has not been made yet, but when we do we will go before the court and that may be soon. It could be tomorrow, it could be two weeks from now.” 

Guilfoyle said two dog evaluators, Jean Donaldson of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Ian Dunbar of Sirius Puppy Training, observed the dog in its kennel. She refused to comment on how the dog responded. 

“All I can say is that it is a very impressive dog, a big, powerful dog. They tested the reaction with a child, with a woman, with a man,” Hallinan, who also witnessed the testing, told the San Francisco Chronicle late Thursday. 

The experts compared Hera’s reactions to those of 10 other dogs being held at the city’s Animal Care and Control facility. Police and prosecutors witnessed the testing. 

Hera has been kept in a 10-by-5-foot cage at the shelter with about 30 other dogs, some of which also are considered aggressive and being kept until their fates are decided. Others are in protective custody because they were abused. 

Handlers avoid touching Hera. They stick to a routine aimed at controlling the dog’s behavior. No one, including Noel and Knoller, is allowed in to see it. 

A call to Animal Care and Control was not immediately returned Friday, but director Carl Friedman has said he would keep Hera alive until Hallinan’s office had completed its investigation. 

Noel and Knoller lived with their two Presa Canario-mastiffs, Hera and Bane, in the upscale apartment building where 33-year-old Diane Whipple was attacked by the animals Jan. 26. 

The couple repeatedly has said the dogs were kept as house pets and were not trained to attack. They have the right to appeal the order to kill Hera.  

Calls to their office Friday were not immediately returned. 

Bane, the primary attacker, was killed immediately after the incident.