A 9-month-old Labrador mix named Diego has to be hand fed on the hour, as well as taking his medications. Diego has a bullet-size hole between his eyes.
"The doctor said he is a miracle," said Lucia Baccaro, Diego�s owner. "He walked himself into the hospital, he walked himself out of the hospital."
Diego was shot by a State Parks ranger Dec. 7 at Seacliff State Beach. He lived through it, but had surgery for the second time and was staying overnight at Santa Cruz Veterinary Hospital.
His plight is a tale of conflicting accounts.
State Parks officials maintain the dog attacked the ranger. Baccaro says Diego was not growling or barking when the incident occurred.
An internal investigation is ongoing, State Parks officials said.
It all started after Baccaro got off work from an area animal clinic that evening.
Normally, she takes Diego to the dog park at the Polo Grounds. But it was late, and she had noticed dogs at Seacliff State Beach.
That was just what the New Jersey-born Baccaro envisioned when she moved to the Golden State in August.
"I just wanted to play with my dog on a beach in California," Baccaro said this week as, perhaps ironically, a man and his unleashed pet played fetch on the nearby sand at Seacliff Beach.
She drove her Jeep and the dogs to Seacliff State Beach, driving into the lower parking area where she parked in front of a set of steps, near the camper area.
It was her first time at that beach with her dogs.
They had been there about a half-hour as Diego played fetch with his favorite red tennis ball.
"I just figured, it�s night. No one is here," Baccaro said.
What happened next happened quickly.
The ranger pulled up at roughly 6:30 p.m. Baccaro said she picked up her smaller dog, a Chihuahua named Trey, to put into the Jeep. That�s when the stories diverge.
Baccaro said the ranger ordered her to control Diego, who was in the process of bringing the ball back to her.
But in a split-second a gunshot rang out before she could respond to the ranger�s command, she said.
"There was not even a second (to call her dog)", Baccaro said. "It all happened so quickly. I didn�t see the gun. I just heard the shot."
State Parks officials say the dog attacked the ranger. While the investigation is under way, Santa Cruz District Superintendent Dave Vincent said State Parks� account is that the dog was being aggressive and bit the ranger.
"He was physically biting the ranger according to our account," Vincent said this week. "I think this investigation will substantiate that fact."
He said the ranger on patrol that evening was a three-year veteran with hundreds of contacts with the public involving dogs.
But Baccaro insists Diego did not attack and was not holding on to the ranger as the shot was fired.
Whatever the case, Diego�s collar fell to the ground, and the wounded animal fled toward the Rio del Mar end of the beach.
Meanwhile, Baccaro found herself cuffed and sitting in the back of the ranger�s patrol car.
More rangers showed up and looked for the dog as Baccaro sat in the back seat, she said.
Baccaro was cited and released, but by then Diego was nowhere in sight.
Rangers looked for the dog until about 8 p.m. before leaving, she said. Baccaro searched as well.
Baccaro got a call the next day from Santa Cruz Veterinary Hospital saying her dog had been found.
A man named Michael had spotted Diego and taken him to the emergency room at the hospital, she said.
The bullet entered the dog�s head between the eyes and exited his throat.
Baccaro is happy to have her dog back. But she has a $3,000 doctor�s bill and citations issued by State Parks related to the unleashed dog and being at the park after closing time that she intends to fight.
"I have no problem pleading guilty to being here after hours, but that is no reason for a dog to get shot," she said.
She has filed a complaint against the ranger and would like for State Parks to pay the vet bill.
Vincent said the internal investigation is being conducted by State Parks Public Safety investigators from Sacramento. He hopes the investigation will be complete in about 30 days.
State Parks� policy on leashed dogs is aimed at a compromise between pet owners and people who don�t enjoy random encounters with canines.
Though seeing dogs off-leash is not uncommon, Vincent said that is a matter of staffing. Rangers patrol long segments of the coast and can�t be at all the beaches all the time. When they see a dog running around, they stop and talk to the owner as priorities permit, he said.
Rangers stop people in the park after hours as well. The first time, the people are usually issued a warning; a card is filled out with the person�s name and filed at the Felton office. The second time a name shows up on file typically results in citation.
"The reason for the contact was that she was there after hours," Vincent said. "It was a simple routine contact. We don�t want to be put in a situation like this. It�s a no-win situation for the ranger and the pet guardian. This didn�t have to happen."
Baccaro received calls of concern about the incident from a State Parks superintendent, but there has been no offer to pay the bill, she said.
Moreover, she questions whether the ranger who shot her dog should continue on the job.
The whole incident has left her a bit shaken, but at least Diego is alive.
"The one thing I learned, miracles do happen," she said.
Anyone who would like to help Baccaro with the veterinary bill may e-mail her at [email protected]. References | Santa Cruz Sentinel - Dec 16, 2004 |
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