The death of a dog shot by police in the police station parking lot in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, has sparked substantial backlash. The Pitbull Mastiff mix got loose while the cops were searching for the owner last Friday.
Dog shot by police
According to Barb Marenic, who spoke to KDKA News, a shot rang out in the parking lot outside her office. Through the window, she saw an armed police officer and a bleeding dog on the ground.
“It just ripped my heart out just to see that,” Marenic told the news outlet.
She ran outside, frantically screaming, “What did you do?”
“He said, ‘[The dog] came at me,’ and he was like, ‘Oh god, oh god,'” Marenic said.
Believing the dog was dead, police covered the dog with cardboard.
“She tried to sit up, she wasn’t deceased, and there was just blood. She was just bleeding out. There was just blood running down the parking lot,” Marenic said.
The dog suffered for 40 minutes while the police phoned the Beaver County Humane Society and local veterinarians for guidance. After consultation with the latter, police concluded that “it was best to put the dog down” by shooting it again.
Timeline of dog shooting
The treatment of the dog is at odds with reports of the dog’s gentle nature only hours earlier. Firstly, a woman reported the as a stray on 23rd and Lenz. Before police retrieved the dog, she took pictures of the pup licking her. According to the woman, the dog was “sweet.”
Secondly, the police posted pictures of the dog on a “pleasant” ride-along on Facebook. (The post has since been deleted.) The dog did not have tags or a microchip. The police kenneled the dog outdoors. But when officers tried to transport the dog to the Humane Society, police say it turned aggressive and tried to bite an officer’s leg and hand. After the dog escaped the kennel, it allegedly charged and lunged at a cop. The officer allegedly shot the dog in self-defense.
The Beaver County Humane Society is “saddened by the outcome” of the incident according to executive director Alison Yazer. Also, the organization acknowledged that “officers have the right to defend themselves in a dangerous situation.”
Marenic is less sympathetic. “Animals can’t speak for themselves, but somebody has to speak for them, and I’m trying.”
No one has claimed the deceased dog.
