Lisa Hurd was in the garden with her 3-year-old daughter when the deputy pulled onto the front lawn.
Hurd said she started to walk toward the deputy when her dog Penny charged him.
“She’s very skittish of strangers,” Hurd told The Des Moines Register. “She ran around him but never bit him. He pulled his gun out and shot her. It has to be the most inhumane thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
[NOTE: You'll read later in the article that she then says that the dog circled, charged and barked aggressively at the deputy for ONE SOLID MINUTE before shooting it. Count out sixty seconds and imagine you standing there with this large dog barking and charging at you with the owner probably yelling at the dog, not bothering to control it, the dog clearly not listening to the owner's commands, the kids all standing around, you are probably yelling at her to grab hold of her dog and she's not bothering to do so.... are you at sixty seconds yet? Probably only at about 30 seconds. The dog is getting more agitated and aggressive with the tense voices and the kids and the owner standing there. The dog thinks it has to do something so it continues its aggressive stance at the deputy until finally the deputy shoots it to protect himself. This is 100% the fault of the owner.]
Marshall County Sheriff Ted Kamatchus confirmed that Deputy Demoris Dean was attempting to contact someone about a “dogs at large” complaint involving Hurd’s animals. Dean got out of his vehicle, began to walk toward Hurd, and then was charged by three canines.
“At this point, all we know is that the dogs came after him and his response was to shoot one of the dogs,” Kamatchus said.
The sheriff declined to comment further pending an “internal affairs review” of the shooting, which likely will be finished next week.
Hurd said the incident occurred in front of her daughter and as her two other children, ages 10 and 14, pulled into the driveway with her husband. She said she and her daughter were standing 6 to 8 feet away from the deputy when he fired his weapon.
“I told him he needed to leave and tell someone else to talk to me,” she said.
The family took their white bulldog to a veterinarian in Ames. What started out as a $3,000 operation turned into $6,000 with a bullet lodged in Penny’s liver.
Penny was euthanized Friday afternoon. Hurd said her 10-year-old son wanted to be with Penny before she died.
“He’s cried for a solid hour,” she said.
Hurd said the dog circled the deputy and barked for at least a minute. If the dog was going to bite the deputy, she would have done it sooner, Hurd said.
“I’m now over $1,000 in the hole, and my dog is dead,” she said.
It wasn’t until later Thursday night that Hurd found out why the deputy was on her property.
“He (the deputy) doesn’t even have evidence that my dog was out of my yard. What happened last night should have never happened,” Hurd said.
Hurd received an animal-at-large citation about a month ago when Penny reportedly chased a jogger. She pleaded not guilty and was to appear in court Tuesday.
Penny and her playmate Gigi have never shown aggression toward Hurd’s children. She said her 3-year-old would lie on Penny and tug her ears, but the dog would never get agitated. Neighbors would come outside and tie scarves on the pair of dogs.
“I understand that the dog was not perfect. I understand that he (the deputy) may have felt threatened, but there are so many things he could’ve done differently,” Hurd said. “I’m hoping that they can at least get some procedures in place. He could’ve maced her, kicked her, anything but that.”
[NOTE: Why didn't she simply grab her dog as soon as the deputy pulled into the driveway? Why didn't she put it into the house? Why didn't she tie up her dog after she got the cited the first time? She couldn't done "so many things" differently? I love how she blames the deputy, but takes zero responsibility for herself.]
Hurd said she plans to contact a lawyer about the incident.
(Des Moines Register - August 10, 2012)
