Knight, an 11-month-old Labrador retriever
mix, was shot by officers with the Palacios Police Department on Feb. 27. The
owners say the dog was spooked by officers shooting at other animals in the
backyard when he broke loose from a chain.
• Bianca Montes • A dog owner wants justice after her
11-month-old Labrador was shot, killed and left to die by an officer of the
Palacios Police Department last week.
Returning from the Matagorda
County Fair on Thursday night, Tiffany Garcia-Duran said she and her family
were devastated to find one of their dogs was missing.
Knight wasn't an outside dog,
she said. He was a puppy that typically slept indoors.
That night, however,
Garcia-Duran, 29, said she left him chained and on his leash in the backyard
with their other dogs.
Garcia-Duran said there's a bar
in the alley behind her home, and she's had previous problems with people
breaking into her yard.
"We've had stuff stolen
from our backyard," she said. "We keep dogs back there to keep people
out."
According to a Palacios Police
Department report, officers responded to a call about a large, aggressive dog
loose near Sixth and Main streets, about a block from Garcia-Duran's home.
A 37-year-old woman complained
the dog was chasing her, according to the report. Garcia-Duran isn't buying the
story. She said the passer-by was probably just startled by the barking.
"We've been called at
least three different times about their dogs," Police Chief David Miles
said, explaining he previously spoke to the family about its dogs being loose.
A leash law in Matagorda County
states dogs must be leashed or fenced in such a way that they do not run free.
"When officers arrived, they
were confronted by that dog," Miles said. "The officer fired three
times."
Miles said officers couldn't
find the dog after shooting it, and he was unable to confirm if they attempted
to contact the family afterward.
"When we got home, he
wasn't there," Garcia-Duran said. "I was screaming, looking for him,
and our neighbors came out and said there were two officers in our property,
and they heard gunshots."
She was shocked.
"I called the
police," she said. "I called them when I thought Knight was missing,
and they said nothing."
The police department does not
have a policy to notify an owner if officers shoot his or her dog, Miles said,
but it does try to notify owners as a courtesy.
He said he's unaware whether
animal control was called to assist with the incident.
Animal control officials could
not be reached Wednesday for comment.
"Our policy is to use the
least amount of force necessary," Miles said. "The officer tried to
avoid the situation by using a nonlethal amount of pepper spray."
Unfortunately, he said, it
wasn't enough "to control the dog."
Garcia-Duran said she later
found an unspent bullet near her back door, leading her to believe officers
shot at her dogs in the backyard. Knight, she said, was probably spooked and
broke away from his leash. She believes he was running from the officers, not
toward them.
Garcia-Duran found Knight's
remains the next day. He was still wearing his broken leash.
"It just breaks my heart
because I feel guilty that I was not there for him," she said. "I've
done my share of crying. I just think he needs justice. It wasn't fair,
especially if he was running."
