Officer said dog repeatedly charged
LAWRENCE — A city patrolman shot a dog to death this morning
after it charged him repeatedly, according to police.
According to a memo of the incident from Lawrence Sgt.
Joseph Beaulieu to Police Chief John Romero, Patrolman Eric Cerullo “needed to
shoot and kill a pitbull ... for his own safety” at around 8:15 a.m.
Animal Control Officer Ellen Bistany said the dog that was
killed was not a pit bull. She said it was a Chinese Shar-pei, a 60-pound dog
that can be aggressive and is sometimes used for fighting.
Sgt. Beaulieu said in the memo on the incident that at
around 5 a.m., police got a call from a man at 28 Summer St. who said he was
stuck in his car with his daughter and couldn’t get out because a dog that he
thought was a pit bull was trying to attack them.
Officer Cerullo went to the scene and was able to distract
the dog so that the man and his daughter could get out of their car and enter
their home. He said that during that encounter, the dog charged him several
times. Further, he said he was unable to locate the owner.
About three hours later, around 8:15 a.m., Cerullo was
called again to the same address because the dog was trying to attack another
person, according to Beaulieu’s memo.
Animal Control Officer Bistany was notified, and Cerullo
waited at the scene for her to arrive. He cleared a parking area of bystanders
while also attempting to locate the dog’s owner.
Cerullo said that as he was watching the dog, it charged him
several times, and at one point, got within a few feet of him.
“At this time, Off. Cerullo, with his department issued
firearm, fired approximately 3-4 shots at the pit bull, striking him,” Beaulieu
said.
The dog ran into the parking lot a few feet and then fell to
the ground, alive but severely injured.
“Cerullo then fired 2 additional shots, ending the life of this
dog,” the memo said. Beaulieu said in the memo that he asked Cerullo why he
fired the final two shots.
“Off. Cerullo stated to me that he did not want the dog to
suffer any longer,” he said.
Witnesses interviewed at the scene by Beaulieu corroborated Cerullo’s
story.
Nobody has come forward to claim the animal, which was in
the neighborhood and appeared to be protecting a minivan that was parked in the
area. “Some careless owner left the dog out,” she said. “It had a rope hanging
from its collar, like a clothes line.”
Bistany said the dog was verified by the MSPCA as a Shar-Pei
or a mix of breeds dominated by Shar-Pei.
“It was not a pit bull,” she said. “It had a wrinkly snout.
The MSPCA verified it was a Shar-Pei mix. It was a non-neutered male. They can
be nasty dogs, too.”
Communications officials with the MSPCA and the Animal
Rescue League said their enforcement officers were not aware of the shooting
and were not involved.
An attempt to reach Bistany again Friday evening was
unsuccessful and a message could not be left.
Reporter Douglas Moser contributed to this story. Follow him
on Twitter @EagleEyeMoser. To comment on stories and see what others are
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