Cops Leave Family A Note Explaining Why They
Shot Their Dog
By Christian Cotroneo
An Oklahoma family came home from church this
week to find a scene from hell on their doorstep.
Their faithful dog, Bruno, had been shot.
Still, he waited faithfully on their porch for Angie Laymon and her young
children to return.
A note on the door offered some kind of
explanation. It was from Rogers County police.
"We were investigating a crime and your
dog attacked our deputy," it read. "The dog was shot and we need you
to call us."
Laymon, who shared her story on Facebook,
gathered that there had been a disturbance at the neighbor's house earlier.
"A deputy came over to ask some questions
regarding the neighbor's house and felt threatened by my dog. So he shot him on
my porch. That was their story," Laymon told Fox 23 News.
Bruno spent three hours bleeding on a porch
before Laymon and her daughters found him.
Bruno's leg was amputated on Friday. "The
damage was too significant and the chances of healing were slim to none,"
Laymon wrote.
A GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $5,000
to help cover Bruno's medical bills.
Laymon shared a message on her Facebook page
from an officer who read about her story:
"Most cops I know love dogs. But when at
work the mentality changes. I'm so very sorry this happened. Sad to say he will
get to keep his job. Also sad to say his next target will possibly be a human.
Many hugs to your family. And my sincerest apologies."
As for Laymon, she's taking the high road,
choosing not to publish the name of the officer who did this to her dog.
"Thousands of people are heartsick at what
has been done to Bruno. It is horrible, it is tragic, it is heartbreaking for
my children to have witnessed it," she writes on Facebook. "But what
if someone decides to take revenge? What if someone takes the name that I share
and takes justice into their own hands. What if another senseless tragedy
follows the first?"
Indeed, she's taking a better, more effective
road to making sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again.
"I do want Rogers County to take a good
hard look at protocol and realize that pets are family members and that this
should have been avoided," she writes.
Want to help? Get in touch with Rogers County
and let officials know that police need better training in their interactions
with animals.
You can reach the sheriff at this number:
918-923-4939. You can also call the Rogers County Sheriff's Office at
918-923-4755.
To learn more about finding justice for
companion animals killed by police, visit the Animal Legal Defense Fund here.
Family Says Officer Shot Their Dog During
Search At Miami-Dade Home
March 7, 2016 11:14 PM By Carey Codd
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A Miami family is angry
after a Miami-Dade Police officer opened fire on their dog, killing him.
According to the Garcia family, several Miami
Dade Police officers showed up Monday morning looking for someone. Once
officers walked in to the yard, the family’s dog, Charlie, did what he normally
does — protect his turf.
“If somebody comes in the house that he doesn’t
know, he’s gonna bark at them and tell them, ‘Hey. I’m here. Get out,'” said
Adrian Garcia, Charlie’s owner.
The family says the dog was barking and
growling at officers but stopped and stood next to Garcia’s mother.
“My mom repeatedly said, ‘Don’t come inside.
There’s a dog. Let me put him away,'” Garcia said.
Garcia said one of the officers opened fire,
shooting Charlie in the neck. Garcia said what also upsets him is a comment one
of the officers’ made.
“He said the shooting and death of my dog meant
nothing,” Garcia said. “That he’s just an animal.”
The family took cellphone video through a
screen showing officers in the front yard looking for something after the
shooting. The family believes they were looking for the shell casing from the
shooting.
Garcia said the officers showed his mother a
picture of the man they were looking for. Garcia said it was a black man with
dreadlocks and no one fitting that description lives here.
“We don’t know if he used to live here,” Garcia
said.
Garcia and his wife say they moved in about 6
months ago.
“We had absolutely no problem with them looking
in here,” said Lizett Vila. “It’s just that we told them, let’s tie up the dog
first.”
Miami Dade Police said they were at the address
to serve a warrant on someone inside the home but they could not elaborate. A
spokesperson for the Miami-Dade Police Department said many of the details of
the shooting and who police were looking for will be investigated by Internal
Affairs officers. But one thing is certain — the spokesperson said — no officer
wants to shoot and kill someone’s animal.
Garcia says they had a Beware of Dog sign
posted on the front fence and he is angry that the officers only reaction was
to shoot his pet.
“You don’t walk into a house without knowing
there’s a dog,” Garcia said. “That’s a very rookie move of them.”
Garcia said he’s going to hire a lawyer to look
into a possible lawsuit against the Miami-Dade Police Department.
