Now he is asking why the Fort Lauderdale officer who fired the shots didn't wait for a Broward County animal care officer to handle the call. One arrived five minutes after the shooting, he said.
Clements, 66, says Bandy and his two other Australian shepherds got out of the yard when an automatic gate malfunctioned on May 4.
In his report, Officer Pete Haritos says he walked into Bandy's yard looking for Clements after learning the dog had bitten a neighbor in the leg minutes earlier. The dog walked into the yard and charged him, so he stomped his feet and pulled his gun from its holster. When Bandy kept coming, Haritos fired three shots.
Department officials are still investigating whether the shooting was justified, said Fort Lauderdale Police spokesman Travis Mandell.
"It's unfortunate any time an officer has to use lethal force, whether it's on an animal or a person," Mandell said.
Since 2009, Fort Lauderdale officers have shot at 13 dogs. At least four, including Bandy, were killed. Seven were injured. One wasn't hit.
Mandell did not have details on a dog fired at on May 7, three days after Bandy was killed.
"I am not married and don't have children," Clements said. "The dogs are my children, not just a family pet."
Bandy had no bite history, a county official said.
But that day, Bandy bit Steffanie Maynes twice on her left leg, sending her to the hospital for one stitch.
When Maynes, 23, saw the dogs in her yard, she went outside to check on her cat -- which happened to be in the house. Bandy barked at her and bit her leg. He bit her a second time after she kicked him.
"I am an animal owner myself, so I feel bad for the guy," she said. "But in the same sense, I was attacked by his dog."
(WPTV - May 16, 2012)
