By Dominic Kelly,
Police in Crowley, Louisiana
have launched an internal investigation after an officer shot a homeowner’s dog
while responding to a reported burglary on that property.
The incident occurred late
Thursday night after the homeowner thought she heard glass breaking in another
room and decided to call the police. She reported a possible burglary and said
she was locking herself in her bedroom until authorities arrived. While on the
phone with the dispatcher, the woman informed them that her dog was outside in
the yard but that it was friendly and wouldn’t be aggressive.
The woman was still on the
phone with the dispatcher when, all of a sudden, she heard a gunshot. The
emergency dispatcher told her that it was safe to go outside to meet the
officers, and it was then she saw that her beloved three-year-old chocolate lab
Max had been shot behind its ear.
The officer who shot Max claims
that the dog was barking and being aggressive towards him, but a neighbor who
witnessed the incident says that’s not what happened at all. According to the
neighbor’s account, the dog did bark, but it didn’t try to move towards the
officer at all. Max was shot behind its left ear with the bullet going through
its neck. Fortunately, Max is expected to make a full recovery.
Now, Crowley Police Department
is starting a full investigation into the incident, as is required by policy if
an officer fires their weapon. Police do say that there was no sign of any
burglary or forced entry at the residence.
The Facebook page “Dogs Shot By
Cops” recently posted about the story, and many users expressed outrage over
what the officer did.
“If the dog was shot behind the
ear how could he have been lunging at the officer,” questioned one user. “Lets
see if the police investigator can make the correlation that for the bullet to
enter behind the ear the cop would have had been behind the dog. I guess the
traits of honesty and integrity are not prevalent within the law enforcement
community.”
Police have not yet released
any updates on the progress of their investigation, and it’s not clear if the
homeowner will press charges.
