A Louisville family has filed a lawsuit against a Metro Police officer alleging that he shot and killed their dog without cause last year while chasing a burglary suspect in the Shawnee neighborhood.
Michelle Damron and her son, Austin Pike, filed suit last week in Jefferson Circuit Court against Officer Joseph Pence, claiming that he shot their 7-year-old Doberman pinscher, Rocco, on April 6, 2011, while the dog was "lawfully tethered" in their backyard in the 600 block of Madelon Court.
The suit claims Rocco posed no threat and Pence fired his weapon "without probable cause or justification," shooting the dog twice in the upper torso and neck.
Rocco, according to the lawsuit, retreated to his doghouse where he lay "bleeding and screaming for a period of time" before bleeding to death.
Pence's conduct was "beyond the bounds of human decency" and caused the family emotional distress, according to the lawsuit.
Claims made in filing a lawsuit present only one side of a case.
Police spokeswoman Carey Klain said the department has not yet seen the lawsuit and couldn't comment.
Last year, Klain told the newspaper that officers had responded to an apartment break-in in the 600 block of Lindell Avenue and saw a man running who matched a description of the suspect.
The man ran three blocks to Madelon Court, where he entered a backyard. An officer followed him, and both were approached by a large Doberman, Klain said.
The dog leaped onto the suspect, and the officer tried to wrestle the man to the ground before the dog started attacking the officer, Klain said.
The officer shot and killed the dog, while the suspect ran to the back of another house. He was found a short time later and arrested.
Police policy allows officers to shoot domestic animals if they are being threatened by the animal, Klain had said.
The lawsuit, which is claiming that the shooting of the dog "constituted an unlawful seizure and taking" of property without proper cause or justification, is seeking damages and a jury trial.