The owner lies next
to her dog, Monkey, which was shot to death while police were reportedly
engaged in a foot pursuit of men accused of beating a man and stealing his car.
July 10, 2012Updated
Jul 10, 2012 at 10:41 AM PDT
The image of a
Louisiana woman collapsed in front of her son’s beloved pet dog — which had
been shot dead by police chasing a robber — has provoked an online petition
demanding an investigation.
Outraged animal
lovers want to know: Were police justified in using deadly force against the
canine?
The Crochet family,
of Lake Charles, doesn’t believe so. They said their dog, Monkey, was
needlessly shot multiple times by an officer during the July 2 incident.
“She (Monkey) had not
ripped his clothes, she had not tried to bite him and he shot her instead of
trying to use pepper spray or some non-lethal force,” Chris Crochet told NBC
affiliate KPLC in Lake Charles.
Setting off the chain
events was a 911 call: A man said he was attacked by three people before they
stole his car, according to police.
Cops spotted the car. Two of the suspects bailed out and were chased on foot. One of them ran through the Crochet family’s yard, police said. That’s when Monkey bolted out of the yard and crossed paths with an officer.
Cops spotted the car. Two of the suspects bailed out and were chased on foot. One of them ran through the Crochet family’s yard, police said. That’s when Monkey bolted out of the yard and crossed paths with an officer.
“The policeman at
that point thought the dog was attacking him, and he shot the dog,” Lake
Charles Deputy Police Chief Mark Kraus told KPLC.
But Chris Crochet’s
mother, Dolores, said the officer overreacted.
“Four times (the
officer) shot and the bullet went in,” Dolores Crochet told KPLC. “Others said
they heard more shots. ... Well, I was with her. She walked over there and she
laid down and that’s where she died.”
A picture of Dolores
Crochet kneeling beside the dead dog in anguish was posted online. That
triggered a petition on Change.org demanding “Justice for Monkey.”