Drogo, who turned 1 in July, was shot by her neighbor, off-duty MPD Officer Tim Taylor.
Taylor told investigators from Iredell County Animal Services and the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office that Drogo was on his property and acting in an aggressive manner when he fired three shots.
Taylor said he then shot the dog a fourth time to end its suffering.
Wiggins disputes the claim that her dog, who accompanied her to visit her mother and other patients at Hospice, was aggressive. “He would bark, but he wouldn’t bite,” Wiggins said.
Wiggins said she and her husband, Rod, got Drogo when he was three months old. Wiggins had decided to make some extra money by dog-sitting and she found Drogo on Craigslist. His owner wanted to sell the dog, but Wiggins maintained she was only interested in sitting for the German shepherd on a temporary basis.
She said she kept the dog for a month and the owner again offered to sell him to her. She again refused and offered to keep the dog for another month.
By that time, she said, the owner had decided he didn’t have time for Drogo and offered to give the dog to the couple.
“Rod had fallen in love with him,” she said, so Drogo joined their pack of three dogs and several other animals, including donkeys.
This past weekend, Wiggins said, she and her husband spent the day putting an underground fence around their five-acre property to contain the dogs. On Monday, Wiggins said, she was working in and around her house and Drogo disappeared during a one-hour period.
“I went out and walked the fence line and couldn’t find Drogo,” she said. “I whistled and he didn’t come. I called Rod (who was at work).”
Wiggins said she then saw an Animal Control vehicle at her neighbors. “I went, ‘Oh no.’ I was getting ready to call Animal Control and about that time Animal Control called me. They said they had a German shepherd at 418 Rankin Hill Road and it had been shot.”
Rod Wiggins, who headed home from work, got to Drogo about the same time Sherri did. “Drogo was lying there. His head was up,” she said. “I bent down. He wasn’t hostile. The Animal Control officer said he’d been nothing but good.”
The couple loaded Drogo into a vehicle and took him to the emergency veterinarian.
He was shot once in one of his front paws and three times in the stomach area toward the rear of his body, Sherri Wiggins said. The vets told the Wiggins that it would cost $6,700 to treat Drogo and there was no guarantee he would survive.
They decided the best option was to have Drogo euthanized. “I went in and visited with him and he grunted at me,” she said, tears filling her eyes. “He knew who I was.”
Iredell County Deputy County Manager Tracy Jackson, who is also the acting head of animal services until next week, said there were no witnesses to the shooting. The Iredell County District Attorney’s Office was contacted and the decision was made not to file charges against Taylor because it was believed he was defending himself, Jackson said.
Mooresville Police Chief Carl Robbins said Taylor did not use his city-issued firearm in the shooting but used a personal weapon.
Robbins said the MPD is conducting an administrative investigation to determine if department policies or procedures were violated but added that investigation is separate from the one conducted by Animal Control.
Wiggins said she firmly believes Taylor should be charged with animal cruelty for the fourth shot he fired. “If you’re going to put a dog down, you shoot it in the head or the heart, not the stomach. That’s inhumane,” she said.
Wiggins said she doesn’t have an opinion about whether Taylor should keep his job.
Her husband, however, has made his feelings about Taylor clear. He placed a large sign in his front yard calling Taylor a “dog killer.” Wiggins said the sign is her husband’s way of grieving. “He’s just devastated,” she said.
Wiggins said she would like an acknowledgement that the shooting was not necessary. “He hasn’t apologized. I don’t think he feels any remorse at all,” she said.
(Statesville - Aug 23 2013)
No comments:
Post a Comment