NORTH CAROLINA -- A Rottweiler was shot in the chest in its owner’s front yard Tuesday morning after the dog allegedly charged a Graham police officer working with animal control to capture the dog with a catch pole.
Rocky, the 11-year-old Rottweiler that was shot, was eventually euthanized at the Burlington animal shelter. But his owner, Imer Campos, is angry that the officer shot his dog on his property.
“I just think it’s cruel the way that the Graham police officer shot my dog in front of my front porch and gave me a $50 fine and just left him there,” Campos wrote in an email.
Graham police received a call shortly before 8 a.m. Tuesday that there were loose dogs in the area of Guthrie Street that were attacking cats, said Graham police Capt. Steve McGilvray.
“When officers got there, the dogs were, in fact, observed on property down the street,” McGilvray said.
The two dogs, a Rottweiler and Labrador, which both belonged to Campos, returned to his front yard on Guthrie Street. Campos was home at the time, but he was sleeping. Officers didn’t want to approach the front door with the dogs in the yard so they beeped their car horns and turned on the siren of a patrol car to try to get Campos to come to the door, McGilvray said.
Campos didn’t come to the door. Although the dogs remained in his yard, they were not fenced in.
“They couldn’t get anyone to come to the door to get someone to talk to them about the dog situation,” McGilvray said. “What are they to do? Walk away?”
The police officers worked with an animal control officer to try to catch the Rottweiler with a catch pole.
“Basically, as they advanced toward the dog to get a catch pole on the dog, that’s when the dog charged the officer,” McGilvray said.
Graham police officer Adam Nicholson pulled out his gun and shot the Rottweiler in the upper shoulder.
Campos heard the gunshots.
“I didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “I went to the front porch. I saw the cops.”
When Campos opened the front door, both dogs ran in the house.
“He bled all over the house,” Campos said.
Campos said the dogs are typically in the back yard, which is fenced in, but they managed to dig out of the yard on Tuesday. He said they usually go to the front door and wait for him to let them in. He couldn’t understand why the officer shot his dog on his property.
[He just admitted that he had prior knowledge that his dogs could get out of the fenced yard... otherwise, how could they USUALLY go around to the front door?? Idiot.]
“My dog would not hurt nobody, but he will protect his property,” Campos said.
Nicholson told Campos he shot the dog because he was charging. Campos said he was told he needed to either get the dog medical attention or have it euthanized. He also was cited for letting his dogs run loose in the city limits, which includes a $50 fine.
“He left my dog there bleeding,” Campos said. “They told me there wasn’t anything they could do.”
Campos eventually took Rocky to the animal shelter and had him euthanized. Campos is angry that the police officers didn’t use a Taser to stop the dog.
“My point is that I don’t want this to happen to nobody else,” he said. “Why shoot him? My dog suffered for two or three hours until I took him to the animal shelter. … To me, this is animal cruelty. It’s just not right. I know it won’t bring my dog back, but it needs to stop.”
McGilvray said using a Taser on a small target isn’t always effective and if it didn’t work, it wouldn’t have left the officer with any other option.
“If the dart misses, the dog is still coming at you and now you have just limited yourself to either running or getting bit,” McGilvray said.
McGilvray said the event was “unfortunate,” but he didn’t think the officer had another option.
Nicholson was required to fill out a use-of-force report because he fired his weapon and that report will be reviewed by his supervisor, McGilvray and police Chief Jeff Prichard.
[I love reading the comments section to these articles. They complain that the police officers didn't have a warrant to go onto the property, that they should have tasered the 120-lb dog charging at them, that the animal control officers didn't know how to 'properly' catch a Rottweiler using a 'stick with a loop'. Oh and then you've got the guy who says "what gave them the right to arrest the dog?"]
(Times News - Nov 18, 2011)
