The shooting happened Saturday in St. Louis, Mich., in Gratiot County.
Lori Walmsley, a neighbor of the family who lost their pet, says she saw the incident.
Walmsley says she was outside playing with her own dog when her neighbor's golden retriever, Scout, ran over into her yard. She says she called the dog over to play, which Scout did, and then Scout ran back over back into his own yard. That's when Walmsley says a police officer showed up.
Walmsley said the officer asked if the was dog hers. She said "no," but told the officer Scout wasn't dangerous. She says the officer tried to catch the dog, who apparently didn't want to be caught. The dog tried to run away and when cornered by the officer, let out a little growl. Walmsley says she couldn't believe what happened next.
"I heard 'pop pop pop pop pop,' and I thought, 'what is going on,' and I [saw] the St. Louis Police Department standing over my dog," said Scout's owner.
"He just started shooting him, he just kept shooting him in the head," said Walmsley. "I said, 'What are you doing? He's just a puppy!'"
The dog was taken to the vet were it later died.
The witness says the officer wasn't provoked and she doesn't feel his reaction was warranted. Scout's owners were inside their house during the incident.
(WNEM - Sept 12, 2012)
Read the police report detailing Officer Matt VanHall's account:
"I walked up to the open gate and without entering the back yard looked through the open gate and saw the dog standing on the back deck... I whistled at the dog and said "Come here pup" and the dog jumped off the deck and ran at me... the dog was showing its teeth and I could hear the dog growling very loudly. I kicked at the dog in an attempt to put a space between me and the dog... I repeated this again kicking at the dog and again the dog tried to bite me... I was running in a backwards circular motion so as not to turn my back on the dog. I... rapidly fired seven shots... one shot in the back legs and once possibly in the mouth. The dog was no longer a threat to me..."
