In St. Clair County, Michigan, a family still mourns the death of their Australian shepherd/ hound after a St. Clair County Sheriff’s deputy fired two shots killing Rocko. The family has since been raising funds in order to hire a lawyer hoping to find justice for their beloved pup.
According to Fox News, the heartbreaking incident occurred on September 12, when Rocko and another dog named Charlotte escaped from their backyard after having been sprayed by a skunk. When the owner of the two dogs, Maggie Meldrum, returned home, she couldn’t find her dogs, but said a neighbor had called 911 about the dogs; an officer responded.
The deputy spotted the dogs a few blocks from where they lived and tried to coax them with peanut butter into his squad car. Sheriff Mat King stated he had called animal control, but they had been on another call, and so it became the job of the deputy at the location, to deal with the unleashed dogs. The deputy whistled to the dogs and called them to come while showing the dogs the peanut butter plate with one hand and his service revolver in the other hand.
the dog growls and lunges at the deputy so the deputy backs up and withdraws his weapon, and the animal does it again growling and showing his teeth and lunging at the deputy. At that point, unfortunately the deputy felt he had no other action he could take other than get bit or attacked.
St. Clair County Sheriff Mat King
And here is where the confusion confronts the sheriff’s department and the owner of the dogs. Body cam video showed Rocko and Charlotte being called by the deputy as he held the plate with the tempting peanut butter. That’s when the deputy states Rocko charged at him, at which time the deputy struck the dog with his revolver at point blank range killing him.
The body cam video seems to show the deputy was afraid of the dog, and the prudent solution might have been to wait for Animal Control to arrive after they contacted him and said they were on their way, or for the officer to have used the peanut butter secure them in the backyard where the dogs were and waited for assistance. The deputy could be seen very upset after the shooting.
An internal review of the deputy’s actions stated he did not violate policy, however he has since been reassigned to another area in order to calm down tensions in the community. Meanwhile, Meldrum lost a very important member of her family and would like to see the officer reprimanded so this won’t happen to another dog.
he was my best friend. I lost my fiance, and he got me through his death. He was just my best friend.
Maggie Meldrum
A GoFundMe account has been started to help the family find justice for their dog.
The officer could have shut the Gate to the backyard and waited for animal control to come And they could have snared rocko. The deputy could have used pepper spray or his taser
GoFundMe
Rest in peace Rocko.
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“KARMA”—AND “HELL”—ARE WAITING! FAR BEYOND SICK AND DISGRACEFUL!
Disgusting “bully with a badge”. He had other options besides shooting Rocko. He should have waited for animal control to take care of the dogs. If the dogs were confined to a yard, NO need to shoot at them.