Greenbrier County animal control officer Robert McClung fired six shots in dispatching "Max," a large black dog belonging to James and Tamera Curry of Lewisburg. The incident occurred on April 21 at around 9:30 a.m., when McClung was summoned by Lewisburg Police Chief Tim Stover to pick up two dogs running loose through a Montvue Drive neighborhood.
The investigative panel found that the dogs — both of which were later determined to belong to the Currys — "were in violation of city and county laws" at the time the incident took place. Specifically, the panel's report cites the owners' failure to properly register the dogs, have them vaccinated for rabies and either leash them or keep the animals in a confined space.
The panel's interview with the police chief yielded an account that was in line with McClung's written report on the incident. The smaller of the two dogs — which they later discovered was named Tyson — was captured quickly and placed carefully in a cage on McClung's truck, according to Stover's eyewitness statement to the investigators.
The chief told the panel that when he was in the process of fetching his jacket from the backseat of his car, he heard five shots, whereupon he ran to McClung and asked what had happened, and the animal control officer told him "the dog (Max) had showed its teeth and charged him, so he had to shoot."
Using a catch-pole, Stover and McClung removed the injured animal from the porch of the Currys' home, where it had "retreated" when wounded, and McClung shot the dog a final time, killing it.
"This panel determined that this event constituted an emergency situation based on the animal making aggressive behavior towards (McClung) and making him fear for his safety," the investigators' report says. "Based on this situation, this panel finds that (McClung) acted within his rights."
Under the heading "Final Opinion," the report states, "This panel unanimously finds that Greenbrier County Animal Control Officer Unit 1, identified as Robert McClung, acted lawfully and appropriately on Tuesday, April 21, 2015, while on Montvue Drive. This panel does not recommend any action be taken against Mr. McClung. This panel does provide several recommendations for the Greenbrier County Commission as laid out in the 'Recommendations' section of this report."
Those further recommendations suggested the commission provide additional equipment to the animal control officer, develop written standard operating guidelines and shift responsibility for the officer's supervision from the commission to the Greenbrier County Sheriff and his chief deputy.
(Beckley Register-Herald - June 10, 2015)
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