In the city of Sturgeon, Missouri, officials have agreed to pay $500,000 to a dog’s owner after a police officer fatally shot his blind and deaf dog in May 2024.
The incident caused widespread outrage and led to the resignation of the town’s mayor.
Teddy, a 13-pound Shih Tzu had been Nicholas Hunter’s best pal. The two had been together since Teddy was just 12 weeks of age. On May 19, 2024, Hunter had been at dinner when Teddy escaped from his backyard. A neighbor called the police when he spotted the dog, hoping the officer could reunite the lost pup with his owner. The police in the 900-person town of Sturgeon are responsible for animal control duties,
Officer Myron Woodson responded to the call and tried to use a catchpole to secure the dog. And this is when everything took a tragic and unnecessary turn.
And then … according to the ALDF (Animal Legal Defense Fund)
Body camera footage shows the officer arriving and spending about three minutes attempting to use his snare pole to try and lasso Teddy before finally giving up and simply shooting him at close range. The footage clearly shows the small, blind dog posed no threat to the officer or anyone else.
At the time, Mayor Kevin Abrahamson, defended the officer before resigning a short time later amid public outrage.
The lawsuit stressed the importance and the ultimate disaster that occurred killing Teddy because the officer was not trained how to handle encounters with pets. Teddy wasn’t a danger to anyone; he was a tiny dog and had not even been approaching the officer when he was shot and killed.
The ALDF hope this case will prompt other police departments to properly train officers, so this tragedy can be avoided for the next lost dog.
mr. Hunter is relieved this matter is concluded, but nothing can ever bring his teddy back. teddy was a good dog who did not deserve this.
The city maintains what happened to Teddy had been an isolated incident.
The DOJ has estimated as many as 10,000 dogs are shot and killed by police annually, and the issue is one that ALDF has been involved with for many years.
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Mom and baby 😉
