By
Dominic Kelly
Last
month, Opposing Views told you about Jerrod Dooley, the Texas cop who fatally
shot a dog while responding to a home invasion. Now, a grand jury has indicted
the former sheriff’s deputy on an animal cruelty charge that could land him in
jail.
Dooley,
a 32-year-old Rains County officer, was immediately fired from the department
following the incident. Cole Middleton, owner of the beloved dog named Candy,
took to social media to share his story after his dog was killed. Middleton
says that he called the police to report that his home had been broken into and
items had been stolen, but when Dooley arrived, the officer fired shots through
the back of Candy’s head, going through her eyes.
“I
was so upset,” said Middleton. “I went over there to her and she was still
alive and I begged and pleaded with him to please shoot her again because I
don’t have any firearms. They got stolen. He went and got in his vehicle and
backed out of my driveway. And then I had to do the unthinkable, the otherwise
unthinkable. I had to kill my dog with my bare hands and put her out of her
suffering, praying for this to be over with.”
From
the start, Dooley claimed that the dog had charged towards him and that he was
left with no choice but to shoot it, but a veterinarian confirmed that the dog
was shot behind its head, so she had to have had her back turned to him when
the shots were fired.
Dooley
was promptly fired and within just a couple of weeks, a grand jury indicted him
on animal cruelty charges that could land him in jail. His attorney Pete
Schulte says that the charges are too harsh and they are hoping to be able to
provide a clear vision of what happened on the day of the incident once they
are in court.
"This
is clearly a political knee jerk reaction by the DA in Rains County and there’s
no chance that this case will stand up in court," said Schulte. "It’s
a legal impossibility because he was acting within the scope of his employment
as a public servant. We look forward to our day in court. They indicted him
within two weeks. That never happens.”
Dooley
insists that he did what he had to do and says that the attention this story
has received has been overwhelming.
“I
can’t go to the grocery store without being recognized, pointed at, laughed
at," said Dooley. "Can't pay my water bill without hearing my name,
saying 'There's the sorry cop that killed the dog.’”
