SALT LAKE CITY – The fatal
shooting of dog by a Salt Lake police officer has sparked outrage in this
community, KATU's sister station KUTV reports.
The dog was shot and killed on
Wednesday, while the officer was searching for a missing child. The officer is
saying the dog was aggressive, but the dog's owner disagrees that his dog was a
threat.
Sean Kendall says his dog was
reacting like any dog would when an unknown person tried to enter their space.
He believes the police had no reason to shoot him.
Kendall says his dog Geist,
"was my best friend, you know we slept together, we went on hikes
together."
On Wednesday, Sean Kendall
arrived home from work to find his best friend was dead, shot twice by a police
officer. Kendall describes the scene vividly, "it's almost like that image
is burned into my eyes, everything from walking into my back door and seeing
him lying on the grass."
The Salt Lake officer was
looking for a missing, 3-year old-child when they shot the dog.
Police say they knocked on the
front door and nobody was home, so the officer went into the backyard to look
for the child. That's when they were approached by the dog, which made them feel
threatened enough to open fire.
Gene Baerschmidt with the
Humane Society of Utah says he wrote to the police department about the
shooting. "We really question why lethal force was used in the first
place, and why alternative methods such as pepper spray or an impact weapon or
Taser wasn't used first."
Salt Lake police say they will
investigate to determine whether the shooting was justified and reviewing
officer training on dog encounters. The police chief will meet with Sean
Kendall next week to discuss the shooting of his dog.
