A small Missouri town is up in arms after a local cop fatally shot a blind and deaf dog after he mistook is for a stray.
Tiny 13-pound Shih Tzu mix Teddy was tragically gunned down in Sturgeon, a town of just 900 people, on Sunday, leaving its owner Nick Hunter enraged.
In footage from KOMU of Hunter confronting police officer Myron Woodson, the emotional pet lover said: ‘Was my dog a threat to you or anyone else?’
Woodson had reportedly been called to the scene to help Teddy after the dog got lost, and initially told Hunter that he believed the pooch was an injured stray that needed to be put down.
But in a statement from the City of Sturgeon, the story appeared to change, as it was said that Woodson also feared Teddy was infected with rabies and shot the pet to avoid being bitten.
Teddy, a tiny 13-pound Shih Tzu mix, was tragically gunned down in Sturgeon, Missouri on Sunday after a police officer mistook her for a stray that needed to be put down
Sturgeon police officer Myron Woodson was seen on footage explaining that he shot the disabled dog because of its behavior, which the city admitted it ‘later learned’ was because Teddy was blind
The shooting unfolded after Teddy reportedly ran into a neighbor’s yard, with the neighbor saying that the dog spent around 45 minutes laying in the sun and licking her hand.
The neighbor, who has remained anonymous, called the police to eventually remove the dog from her yard and find its owner.
But within minutes of Officer Woodson arriving, the cop shot the dog twice, killing the beloved pet on the spot.
Hunter told the Washington Post that he found out his five-year-old dog was dead through a phone call, which he said left him in ‘disbelief.’
‘I was shaken, in tears, trying to figure out if it was really my dog that an officer had shot or if a mistake had been made,’ he said.
The owner added that after meeting the disabled pooch, he ‘instantly fell in love with his bubbly and playful personality’, adding: ‘He was so small you could hold him in one hand.’
Hunter told the outlet that he was considering taking legal action over the shooting, and was seen in footage confronting Woodson.
‘Was my dog a threat to you or anyone else?’ he said in a shaky voice, bewildered how the tiny deaf, blind dog could have triggered the response.
Woodson responded: ‘I see a dog that is walking around blindly – I don’t know the dog is blind.’
As he reportedly said he believed Teddy needed to be put down, Hunter questioned: ‘So you’re putting him out of his misery?’
‘What Am I supposed to do?’ Woodson responded, noting that the tiny Missouri town doesn’t have animal control.
‘I don’t enjoy shooting dogs,’ the officer added.
Owner Nick Hunter said he was in ‘disbelief, shaken and in tears’ after finding out his beloved dog had been shot
Woodson apologized to Hunter as he was confronted, and insisted: ‘I don’t enjoy shooting dogs’
Amid outrage from Sturgeon residents, the city released two statements, including one where they insisted that the officer ‘acted within his authority’ after reviewing body camera footage.
But locals say they remain disturbed by the shooting on a residential street, with the owner of the yard where Teddy was shot sending a letter to the city demanding Woodson is removed from his duties.
The letter also stressed that the dog was not posing any kind of threat, and that Woodson fired his weapon multiple times with ‘neighboring children (in) the side yards playing and my family within close perimeter.’
The resident added that their 17-year-old daughter witnessed the dog being killed by Woodson.
In its initial statement the day after the shooting, the City of Sturgeon claimed that Woodson believed Teddy was rabid and feared he may be bitten, despite the officer reportedly not making these claims at the scene.
‘The SPD Officer also noticed the animal did not have a collar or tags. The SPD Officer made numerous attempts to capture the dog using the catch pole,’ the statement added.
‘Based on the behavior exhibited by the dog, believing the dog to be severely injured or infected with rabies, and as the officer feared being bitten and being infected with rabies, the SPD officer felt that his only option was to put the animal down.’
The city admitted that it was ‘later learned’ that Teddy’s behavior was because he was blind, and that the ‘animal’s lack of a collar or tags influenced the SPD Officer’s decision to put the animal down due to his belief that the animal was injured, sick and abandoned.’
Teddy’s owner added that after meeting the disabled pooch, he ‘instantly fell in love with his bubbly and playful personality’
Local resident Regina Adams-Miller said she was outraged after hearing of the incident, and was particularly disturbed by the officer firing his weapon on the quiet residential street
In a follow-up statement on Thursday, the city said it reviewed Woodson’s body cam footage and found that he ‘acted within his authority based on the information available to him at the time to protect against possible injury to citizens’.
‘In order to better equip officers for future animal at large call outs, the City will be sending all officers to Boone County Animal Control for training and education, in hopes that this unfortunate situation does not occur again,’ the city added.
Local resident Regina Adams-Miller told KOMU that she was outraged after hearing of the incident, and was particularly disturbed by the officer firing his weapon on the quiet residential street.
‘What if we had, you know, kids playing outside?’ Adams-Miller said.
‘It’s scary, I don’t think the community feels very safe with him. And I think I can honestly speak for most of the community, not everyone, but most.’
She continued: ‘If [the officer] is scared of a little blind and deaf, 13-pound dog, or 12-pound dog, what is he going to do, you know, to our community, to our kids.’
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