Family dog shot by police - Virginia Beach, VA

Tuesday, Oct 25, 2011

County: Virginia Beach City

Disposition: Not Charged

Abuser names unreleased

"She's not a dog, she's a family member," the dog's owners say.

It's hard for her owners to watch. Callie slowly limps around, with staples on her neck and shoulder, and bite marks on her back and legs.

A glaring reminder of how close she came to death, after fighting with a K-9 police dog, and then being shot by its officer.

"I don't want to judge him harshly, because anybody in uniform has to be respected," he says.

Yet Allan Petit says he doesn't understand why his dog was the target of a bullet.

It all happened Tuesday. Callie was playing in the yard, kept on the property by an electric dog fence. But around 4:30, officers and K-9 units rushed through the neighborhood, chasing a robbery suspect.

And that's when the stories differ, depending on who you talk to.

"It was just heart-wrenching to see this," he says.

After hearing his dog cry out, Allan ran outside. That's when he says he saw Callie cowering down, looking like she just got into a fight with the German Shepard.

And that's when he says the officer pulled his gun and fired.

"I broke down, honestly thought he had killed her," Allan says.

But the officer tells another version of events. While running around the corner chasing the robbery suspects, he says Callie attacked his dog.

According to police, the officer tried to kick at Callie to get her to dis-engage. But that's when she bit his pant leg, and then jumped up to his torso.

"The officer at that time feared for his safety, at that point didn't have much choice," say Jimmy Barnes with Virginia Beach Police. "If he is being attacked, feels like he is in fear, going to go to that firearm."

Like with any officer-involved shooting, Virginia Beach Police launched an internal investigation. But Petit feels this never would have happened if Callie was a different breed of dog.

"It's upsetting because the pit bull hysteria had to be the motivating factor because none of this made sense to me," he says.

References

• wtvr.com - Oct 28, 2011

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