Police officer sued after shooting puppy dead in front of its owners

A couple in Colorado is suing a police officer who shot their puppy that later had to be euthanised after he initiated an encounter with the pair.

In June 2019, Loveland police officer Matthew Grashorn arrived in an empty car park, where Wendy Love and her husband were letting their three dogs run around and drink water.

The officer was responding to a call from the owner of a nearby building, who saw the couple on his security cameras and demanded the police see what they were up to.

Body camera footage of the incident shows Mr Grashorn arrive and – without announcing his presence – draw his pistol unprompted when one of the couple’s dogs ran over to him.

Mr Grashorn calls the couple to call their dog off, which they do, and the dog obeys.

One of the couple’s other dogs, a 14-month-old Staffordshire terrier-boxer cross, Herkimer, leapt out of the truck and darted toward the officer.

Before the couple had time to react, Mr Grashorn fired two shots at the dog.

In the video, the dog drops to the pavement instantly and Ms Love can be seen standing in shock in the moments after the shooting.

“Why did you do that?” Ms Love, shaken, asks in the video.

“I don’t know, because he’s coming after me like he’s going to bite me,” Mr Grashorn said.

The couple pleaded with the police to let them rush the puppy to the vet, but Mr Grashorn would not allow them to leave until his supervisor arrived.

It took the officer’s supervisor eight minutes to arrive on the scene, during which time the dog can occasionally be seen lifting its head from the pavement.

When the dog was eventually taken to the vet, officers said it “had attacked one of our officers”.

Herkimer was euthanised four days later, and the couple was charged with having a dangerous dog, though that was later struck down by the district attorney’s office.

The couple is being represented in court by attorney Sarah Schielke, who has sued the Loveland police department twice in the last two years.

The department has been the subject of excessive force complaints in the past, and on multiple occasions, their allegedly heavy-handed tactics have been recorded by officers’ body cameras.

“Herkimer was clearly a friendly dog and not dangerous to anybody,” Ms Schielke told The Washington Post. “He looked like he was curious and excited to greet this officer, and watching him get shot in the head and fall down was traumatic.”

The attorney said the only thing “worse than watching a video like this is watching a video like this and not doing anything about it”.

She also claimed that her clients became depressed after Herkimer was killed. The couple said they hope their lawsuit will change a department that “needs to be cleaned out”.

The police department’s internal review ruled that Mr Grashorn acted appropriately. The officer has faced no disciplinary action for the shooting and has not responded to the lawsuit.

The city of Loveland is still reviewing the complaint.