An Oklahoma family came home from church this week to find a scene from hell on their doorstep.
Their faithful dog, Bruno, had been shot. Still, he waited faithfully on their porch for Angie Laymon and her young children to return.
A note on the door offered some kind of explanation. It was from Rogers County police.
“We were investigating a crime and your dog attacked our deputy,” it read. “The dog was shot and we need you to call us.”
FACEBOOK / ANGIE LAYMON
Laymon, who shared her story on Facebook, gathered that there had been a disturbance at the neighbor’s house earlier.
“A deputy came over to ask some questions regarding the neighbor’s house and felt threatened by my dog. So he shot him on my porch. That was their story,” Laymon told Fox 23 News.
Bruno spent three hours bleeding on a porch before Laymon and her daughters found him.
Bruno’s leg was amputated on Friday. “The damage was too significant and the chances of healing were slim to none,” Laymon wrote.
A GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $5,000 to help cover Bruno’s medical bills.
Laymon shared a message on her Facebook page from an officer who read about her story:
“Most cops I know love dogs. But when at work the mentality changes. I’m so very sorry this happened. Sad to say he will get to keep his job. Also sad to say his next target will possibly be a human. Many hugs to your family. And my sincerest apologies.”
As for Laymon, she’s taking the high road, choosing not to publish the name of the officer who did this to her dog.
“Thousands of people are heartsick at what has been done to Bruno. It is horrible, it is tragic, it is heartbreaking for my children to have witnessed it,” she writes on Facebook. “But what if someone decides to take revenge? What if someone takes the name that I share and takes justice into their own hands. What if another senseless tragedy follows the first?”
Indeed, she’s taking a better, more effective road to making sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.
“I do want Rogers County to take a good hard look at protocol and realize that pets are family members and that this should have been avoided,” she writes.
Want to help? Get in touch with Rogers County and let officials know that police need better training in their interactions with animals.
You can reach the sheriff at this number: 918-923-4939. You can also call the Rogers County Sheriff’s Office at 918-923-4755.
To learn more about finding justice for companion animals killed by police, visit the Animal Legal Defense Fund here.
