A Pit Bull shot by an off-duty FBI Special Agent has left a Philadelphia dog owner mired in shock, disbelief, and grief over the pup’s death.
Pit Bull Shot at Park
Last Monday night, Maria Esser took her Pit Bull, Mia, and her other dog, Mush, on their regular walk near her Center City apartment. While at a park, another female dog owner sat next to Esser on a bench and their dogs got into an altercation.
“Her dog started barking at my dog and Mia had gotten a hold of the dogs’ harness,” Esser told CBS News Philadelphia in an exclusive. “By the time I went down to, ya know, get her off the harness, this woman shot my dog.”
Maria said she was on top of Mia when the gun went off. She didn’t even know her dog had been shot.
The other woman allegedly said, “What is wrong this you? Are you crazy? I just shot your dog.”
Dog Owner Seeks Justice
Esser and Mia were taken by police van to the vet, but the dog died in Esser’s arms before they arrived.
“Mia was the most loving and loyal dog I could’ve ever asked for in my life. She was my best friend,” Maria told the news outlet. “There is no justice. My dog has been taken from me. Something that should’ve been preventable. Something that should’ve never happened.”
The park where the incident occurred is apparently a “high traffic area” and Esser feels that what happened is due, in part, to stereotyping of breeds like Pit Bulls.
CBS News Philadelphia reports that the woman who shot the dog is Jacqueline Maguire, FBI Philadelphia’s special agent in charge. The Philadelphia police department has an officer-involved shooting unit, which is investigating the shooting, including reviewing body camera and surveillance video of the incident.
CBS News Philadelphia reported that sources close to the investigation say the surveillance video shows the special agent tried to de-escalate the situation.
“She [the special agent] had a smaller dog and a larger dog attacked that dog. When she tried to get her dog back, I think the dog attacked her and then she discharged her weapon,” Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore Jr. said.
Esser’s sister, Gabriella, disagreed. “I don’t see any world in which what this woman did could be justifiable,” she told the news outlet.
