Wayne State cop shoots emotional support dog during welfare check
A cop at Wayne State University shot an emotional support dog while performing a welfare check near the Detroit campus, a report said.
The campus cop opened fire on the 10-year-old goldendoodle named Ace when the pooch approached him at about 9:30 p.m. Friday. The dog was struck once in the jaw and was recovering, owner Justin Fuller told the Detroit Free Press.
“He spotted an officer and began trotting up to him,” said the 18-year-old Fuller. “And when the officer saw Ace, he looked at me and then looked at Ace and just shot him.”
“He was already dripping blood from the side of his face walking in the house,” Fuller told WXYZ in Detroit. “By the time he got in here, he stumbled up the steps, blood on the wall.”
The black goldendoodle — whom Fuller got as a gift for his 10th birthday — survived the encounter and was brought to a local vet. He was released Saturday morning with some stitches and a cone wrapped around his neck.
“He was shot in the top of his lip, and it came out the bottom of his lip,” Robin Gamble, Fuller’s mother, told the Free Press. “It went through his jaw and cracked two of his canine teeth.”
The shooting is particularly peculiar given the dog’s breed. Goldendoodles are hybrids of golden retrievers and poodles and are widely known as playful, happy dogs that mesh well with kids and families.
Gamble called the wounded pup “the sweetest boy ever.”
“He enjoys daily walks at Belle Isle Park and chasing birds and squirrels,” she said. “Now we have to figure out how to feed him and all he is doing is crying and panting.”
The department said it’s investigating the shooting but the offending officer is not expected to be punished, according to Local12 in Cincinnati.
The Wayne State Police chief said the dog “started charging” at the cop. The officer felt threatened, so he shot twice at the pup, the chief said.
Police say they offered to help the dog, but the family disputed their account, according to WXYZ.
Gamble — who lost her other son to gun violence in August — said she plans to file a complaint against the college cop. She also wants changes in how police deal with animals.
Last year, 44 dogs were shot by officers in Detroit, the network said. And the Detroit Police Department is also being sued for allegedly killing a woman’s dog and throwing the body in the trash without telling her.
Gamble suggested retraining trigger-happy cops and teaching them how to treat canines since there’s no puppy ambulance.
“There’s gotta be some kind of protocol when dogs are shot by police officers,” she said. “They just don’t have compassion for pets and they should.”
