"We did everything we possibly could to keep the animal at bay until then, but the animal charged one of the officers, and the officer at that point he has to do something to protect himself,” said Commander Stuart.

Another neighbor says he saw police using a lawn chair to shield themselves from the dog. But says he didn't think they'd shoot.

"The dog was not attacking him, or chasing them, or anything like that, he was in his yard,” said Adrian Johns.

A friend from the dog park came out to console Garcia. Stacey Morehead brought along her dog Sassypants, who used to play with Gotti.

“As a dog mom, if that were to happen to Sassy pants, my whole world would go,” said Morehead.

"He was young and he was a member of our family,” Garcia said.

Police say they will conduct a full investigation of the shooting.

The monkey was shot and killed by authorities in the city located in Livingston County, about 97 miles northeast of Kansas City.

Police said they ran out of tranquilizer darts and had no choice but to use deadly force because they believed it would have been a threat to others.

The former Rains County deputy fired for shooting and killing a dog during a burglary call has been indicted on a felony animal cruelty charge.

...

A report from a veterinarian after the shooting determined Candy was shot in the back of the head.

A Michigan police officer shot and killed a 10-month-old puppy this week as he pursued a suspect through several yards in a Redford Township neighborhood.

According to the dog’s owner, Bianca Alakson, police ignored the “beware of dog” sign on her backyard fence early Sunday morning as they entered onto the property. After reaching her backyard, one officer claims to have been “charged” by the puppy.

“I didn’t know what had happened at first, I just heard ‘pop, pop’,” said Alakson’s boyfriend, Ryan Showalter.

Police claim the officer “feared for his safety” and had no choice but to shoot the puppy twice after it would not stop “advancing.”

“Everyone here loves animals, it’s the last thing we want to do but we have to protect ourselves,” a police spokesperson said.

Showalter refuted the officer’s claim that his puppy was dangerous, saying the dog had no history of violence whatsoever.

“He wasn’t the protector of the house type dog either, he was just the great everybody and love them to death type dog,” Showalter said.

Although police say the shooting was strictly based on officer safety, Showalter says the officer had a different explanation on scene.

“I asked him why and he said, ‘because he was in our way’,” Showalter explained.

Incredibly, officers then arrested Showalter, accusing him of interfering with police on his own property.

“They tried to tell me that I was resisting arrest,” Showalter said. “I was breaking down hysterically in the back seat of the cop car, crying, I didn’t know what to do.”

Showalter was later bailed out of jail by Alakson and is still awaiting charges from police.

Police were called Saturday morning to the 700 block of South Grundy Street in southeast Baltimore for a report of a stray dog that had nipped someone trying to rescue it.

Sarah Gossard told 11 News that her beloved 7-year-old shar-pei named Nala had somehow escaped the gate of her back yard that morning. While she searched for the dog, including posting pictures of Nala on a community Facebook page, nearby resident Sandy Fleischer said she found Nala a few blocks away looking confused and thirsty.

"The dog was more scared of not knowing where it was and being thirsty and disoriented. The dog bit me out of fear because I tried to touch it, which was my fault," Fleischer told 11 News reporter Kai Reed.

Police were called, and Fleischer said she watched as several officers used sticks to try to contain Nala, who she said wasn't being aggressive.

"You could hear the dog screaming and crying in pain," Fleischer said. "I did see one officer that had been extremely aggressive that did have his knee into her chest that was tightening the noose. It seemed (they were doing it) relentlessly and unnecessarily."

Fleischer then went into an ambulance, so she didn't see what happened next.

Police said the officers then secured Nala using a dog pole, and an officer assigned to the emergency services division, later identified as Officer Jeffrey Bolger, went much further.

"Unfortunately, at some point after the dog was contained, one of our officers used a knife and cut the dog's throat. This is outrageous and an unacceptable breach of our protocol," Baltimore Police Deputy Commissioner Dean Palmere said.

"We have no words to describe this. To say that we are appalled at the allegations, I think, is an understatement," said Baltimore Police Deputy Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez.

Commanders said they know of no reason for Bolger to use such force on a dog that was under control. Nala later died.

"She was just the sweetest dog and would never hurt anyone. She was just scared that day, and through all of those events -- being scared and lost, thirsty, hungry -- yes I'm very sure that she bit someone, but the actions after that were not OK," Gossard said.

She told 11 News she didn't find out until Wednesday that her dog was killed in such a violent way.

"This dog had a collar around its neck with tags, with my phone number. It's not OK," Gossard said.

Bolger, who was also charged with malfeasance in office, has been suspended without pay. He was released early Thursday on his own personal recognizance, 11 News learned.

The CCTV footage, taken during a raid on a Canberra home last month, shows three officers standing around a dog chained to a pole in the backyard.

One officer is seen taunting the animal before pepper spraying it.

He then stands back and throws things at the dog.

Other officers are seen laughing at the incident, with one man appearing to film it on his phone.

The dog's owner, who was not home at the time, made a formal complaint to police.

"It is cowardly for anybody to treat an animal in this way," a lawyer for the dog's owner, Peter Woodhouse, said.

"The fact that it is a police officer supposedly executing his duty is appalling.

"We are concerned that the AFP (Australian Federal Police) may not take this matter seriously. The behaviour of the police in this instance is atrocious."

A neighbor's dog was shot and killed during a police search for a 3-year-old Wednesday.

Around 4:30 p.m., Salt Lake City Police Department reported that a 3- year-old boy named Kelby was missing from his home near 2500 South and Fillmore Street. He was found safe in his home just before 5 p.m.

As police searched for the toddler, an officer entered Sean Kendall's yard, felt Kendall's dog, Geist, was aggressive, and shot the dog, police said. Police can lawfully enter private yards during an emergency.

Kendall said Geist, a 110 pound Weimaraner, was his hiking buddy, sleeping partner and best friend.

"He was a member of my family," Kendall said. " He was just goofy and funny and he loved to play. He was a big cuddler, a big cuddler, and now he's gone."

Marsha Stemer lives a few doors down from Kendall. She said she heard two gunshots and saw the officer leave Kendall's yard.

"That's really freaky that that could happen," she said.

Kendall said Geist had never been aggressive or lunged at anybody, so "the idea that he attacked an officer — it just doesn't make sense," he said. "I believe my dog came out of the dog kennel to see what was going on, who was here, stopped right here, and those were his last moments."

Kendall said Geist had a single gunshot wound to the head.

"Just the sheer sight of seeing my dog there — it was traumatizing," Kendall said. "Now he's dead. I have him wrapped up in a blanket in the back of my truck, and now I have to go bury him."

The Salt Lake Police Department confirmed an officer went into Kendall's backyard while searching for that toddler. Police said the officer who was searching in Kendall's yard felt the dog was aggressive and going to attack him, and that's why he shot the animal. They are investigating the incident before they issue any further statement.

Her 6-year-old Basset hound/beagle mix, ***** Pete, left the porch and made his way toward the troopers. The dog, she said, suffered from arthritis in his back legs and was not aggressive. Her other dog went into the house.

Sweat said she was still inside when she saw the trooper raise a weapon at her dog.

“I ran out my door, jumping up and down screaming ‘don’t shoot my dog, he won’t bite, just let me get him in the house,’” she said.

She said the officer fired one shot toward the dog but missed. She said ***** Pete turned tail and was running back toward her.

“He ran towards me with desperation in his eyes,” she said. “They fired again in my direction. In the direction of my home where my kids were.”

She said three more shots were fired, a total of four shots. ***** Pete, she said, was hit three times. The dog went to the back of the mobile home. Sweat said she found the dog near the air conditioning unit.

“I watched my dog struggle and then die,” she said. “I collapsed in a puddle in the floor, screaming and crying.

“I watched that dog born and I watched him die.”

She said the troopers came to her home and one of the officers told her “Ma’am we’re dog people, too, but we couldn’t let them fight,” she recalled him saying. “He said, ‘I’m sorry. Where’s your shovel, I’ll bury him.’”

She said her dog wasn’t vicious and that she wouldn’t have allowed a vicious dog around her children.

Sweat is upset about the death of her dog. But more than that, she is angry she wasn’t told police were searching near her home for a potentially violent criminal, and that a weapon was fired in her direction and near the house where her children were sleeping.

“They shot toward my home with me standing there,” she said. “If they were here why didn’t they notify us? I would have put my dogs up in my home. I want them to change their policies.”

Lt. Michael Baylous, State Police spokesman, said troopers sometimes will inform the public in similar situations with a media burst or by going door to door, but that it was his understanding there was no time for that in Tuesday’s case.

Baylous said officers still are searching for Jeffers.

An officer shot and killed a pit bull on Wednesday morning near 8th Street and Sherman. Investigators described the dog as a “vicious” pit bull and said it lunged at the officer. However, the dog's owner said the dog was not a pit bull but a black lab (pictured above).

The incident began Wednesday morning when an officer responded to call about a suspicious van. The caller claimed the driver of van was watching young children from a nearby parking lot. The owners of coffee shop reported the white van because they thought it was possibly connected to child luring case.

When an officer approached the van with his gun drawn, the dog lunged out of the open driver’s side window according to Coeur d’Alene Police Department leaders. The officer said the pit bull lunged at his face. Investigators said the officer fired one round from his service weapon and shot the dog in the chest. The dog later died.

The driver of the van, Craig Jones, was not in the vehicle at the time of the shooting. Jones said he was nearby eating breakfast when the shooting happened.

HOLLY HILL, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) -
A dog owner is demanding a Holly Hill police officer's badge, after that officer shot his dog while serving a warrant to the wrong house.

"She was shot in the face and the neck and her side right here," Richard Stotler told FOX 35.

Lady was shot late Friday night in the backyard of Stotler's home. According to a statement by Holly Hill Police, officers came to the Elsie Avenue house to serve a woman with a warrant for prostitution charges.

The problem is; the woman doesn't live there anymore. Stotler moved in after her, and said he has no idea who the woman is.

He added when he told police, they didn't listen; going through the gate around the back of the house, where they found Lady and Stotler's other dog.

Police said Lady was "aggressively lunging" at the officer when he opened fire, something Stotler finds hard to believe.

"She's a big baby," he said, "She's a big teddy bear, she sleeps with me every night, she's just a big baby, everybody loves her."

Lady is on three different pain medications, with part of a bullet still lodged in her ear canal, and other wounds Stotler isn't sure will heal.

"She's just traumatized. She won't even come outside at night anymore at all."
He told Fox 35, when the police realized their mistake, they offered to foot the vet bill. He wants the officer fired.

"This is something that should have been avoided. It should have never happened."

Holly Hill Police said they are still investigating what happened, and haven't released the officer's name or whether he will face any disciplinary action.

Stotler has contacted various animal rights groups about the shooting.

"The first thing I heard was 'boom,'" he recalled. "Bop, bop, bop, bop, bop. Right in front of us."

It was 7 a.m. when police executed what is known as a no-knock search warrant. Arman said he and his two children were sleeping on a mattress when armed members of the SWAT team barged through the front door. The next thing he remembers is seeing the family's long-time dogs stagger and fall.

The blood of the two pit bulls -- named Mello and Laylo -- is still staining the carpet, and Arman's sneakers.

"One was running for her life, and they murdered her right here," he said.

Arman's girlfriend, Camille Perry, was in the bathroom at the time. She raced to cover the couple's young children, who she contends were right in the line of fire while sleeping at ground level.

"The only thing I was thinking was my kids were going to get hit by bullets," she said.

A St. Paul police spokesman told Fox 9 News that the dogs charged at officers, and that they feared for their safety. The spokesman also explained that law enforcement has the right to eliminate potential threats with lethal force, and he pointed out that a judge signed off on the search for weapons and drugs and that investigators believed they were entering a dangerous situation. Arman says that couldn't be further from the case.

"Yeah, I smoke marijuana," he said. "I do."

Arman admits he is a recreational smoker, but he is not the only one questioning the police tactics on East Maryland Avenue. Neighbors aren't pleased either.

"All of a sudden, we see the dogs thrown out like pieces of meat, like they were nothing," Shawn Miller said. "We teared up because they are like family to us. Those dogs are real good dogs."

The only items seized during Wednesday's raid included clothing, a glass bong and suspected marijuana remnants in a metal grinder.

The call card — a log kept by dispatchers that indicates the sequence of events during each call for service — shows that Clifton tied up the horse and tried to contact Michelle Green-Fernandez, who resides at the home with her husband Trent Fernandez. GCSO left a voicemail after no one answered.

During the time Deputy Clifton was there, he reported that he had to “put down one of the dogs.” Meanwhile, GCSO also tried to contact Fernandez, albeit unsuccessfully.

The report said Green-Fernandez later called and informed officers she and her husband were out of town. After they returned home, they discovered the deceased animal.

Sometime between 7 and 8 p.m. Friday, Paul Thomas Trott let his dogs out of the north Minneapolis home near Aldrich Avenue and 39th Avenue he shares with his partner, Josh Lyczkowski.

Unbeknownst to both of them, the gate on their fence had been broken by a car theft suspect who had fled from cops through their yard shortly before, and the dogs, Tito and Vita, made their way into a nearby alley.

In the alley, Tito -- a nearly two-year-old, 120-pound Cane Corso -- approached an officer who was still hunting for the car theft suspect. The officer ended up opening fire and killing Trott and Lyczkowski's beloved dog.

"I ran out the door and was hollering for him," Trott tells us. "I didn't get halfway to the gate when you could hear the officer yell, 'Stop!' He just yelled 'Stop!' and shot him and that was it."

On the page she wrote that the police officer would not allow the couple to take Doctor for help 'due to procedure.'

When a second officer arrived 20 minutes later, 'we found out that procedure was just to take pictures of the bleeding dog.'