Posted on 11/21/2007 12:36:37 PM PST by Lurker
A Teton County, Idaho family is outraged after they say a sheriff's deputy tried to murder their dog in their own front yard.
The Barboza family has owned their dog Bobby for five years. A few days ago they say a Teton County Idaho Sheriff's Deputy knocked on their door demanding to see the dog.
Leonel Barboza, Dog Owner: "He says, 'I'm here to put him down. I'm here to kill him.'"
The officer told Leo Barboza there had been a complaint Bobby had bitten someone.
Barboza: "I said, 'Do you have any proof or anything?' He says, 'I don't need any proof.'"
So Leo got the dog while the deputy pulled out a rifle from his car. They walked a few feet from the Barboza's home where Leo's wife and his three year old son were inside.
Leo and the officer tied the dog to a pole when the deputy fired three shots. The dog then collapsed. Leo's son heard the gunshots and opened the front door. Meanwhile...
Barboza: "A bunch of kids just got off the bus and they were all on the street. All the kids were watching the officer shooting the dog. My heart was broken seeing an officer killing my dog."
The deputy then got in his vehicle and drove away leaving the dog bleeding profusely from his head almost dead.
Barboza: "I came back inside with my wife and hid. We were hugging each other crying about our dog because we were gonna miss him. He's been with us for five years."
That night Leo's father-in-law, who witnessed the whole thing, had a nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalized. When the family returned home from the hospital a few days later, they were shocked to see their dog alive.
Barboza: "My wife called me up and she's like, 'Hey, the dog's alive!' I was like, 'What are you serious?' I was happy my dog was alive."
The Teton County Idaho Sheriff wouldn't say much about this case except that it's still under investigation. He also said there's been numerous complaints about the Barboza's dog. But when I checked court records, I could only find one complaint filed last year and that was dismissed.
Nate Eaton, Channel 3 Eyewitness News: "Did your dog ever bite anybody?"
Barboza: "Not to my knowledge. No."
Eaton: "And this was the first time you'd ever heard of any complaint?"
Barboza: "Yes, this is the first time. I still think about it. You know my kid thinks all the cops are bad because an officer came and shot his dog. Honestly when I think about it I get mad too and I don't trust that officer any more."
The Barboza's took Bobby to the vet. He's now on medication to get the wounds taken care of. The holes in his head will be sewn up after Thanksgiving.
The family has hired attorney Josh Garner. I spoke with him this evening and he says, "If the facts are as they appear, the deputies behavior is disgusting, troublesome, and appalling. The officer needs to be held responsible."
Several sources say the officer is still on duty and still working in the county.
If you have a comment on this story, email us yourturn@kidk.com or natee@kidk.com.
The only advice I can give to someone in this situation is to let it happen and lawyer-up. The canine gets the shaft, I know, but you will be able to buy dozens more with the settlement.
To put a dog down usually requires a nuisance complaint to be filed by the district attorney and a trial. (I know, I have tried dog-barking cases.) Had that occurred, an order after the trial would have been served on the owners and they would have had the opportunity to "abate the nuisance" themselves. If they refused after trial and service of an order, then the sheriff would get involved.
I've never heard of a sheriff just showing up with a gun. And if there were a court order, he would have had papers with him authorizing the "abatement."
This story is wildly improbable, although anything is possible.
Yeah......that part kinda confused me, too.
Also, the part about the guy helping the deputy tie the dog to a pole so the deputy could shoot him.
Two words...due process.
Maybe he was the one Bobby bit.
Shoulda used a taser.
I cannot imagine this- even if the dog was under court order to be destroyed for being dangerous, it would seem he would be taken to the pound and put to sleep. A deputy dragging the dog out and shooting him in front of everyone is just crazy! Did the dog bite the deputy or one of his family members?
I suspect there are some pieces of the story missing. Perhaps this is way out in the middle of nowhere and getting the father in law to the hospital and being with him was the priority. If the dog was lying still with three bullet holes in its head they may have just assumed it was dead or unconscious and beyond help. If the father in law seemed like he might be having a heart attack, and the hospital was a long way off, and the family only had one car . . . The fact that no one in the family came home from the hospital (or at least from whatever town the hospital was located in) for several days supports this scencario.
What I think may be missing is something along the lines of a neighbor assuring the departing family that he’d see if anything could be done for the dog, and taking care of it in their absence. Apparently not with the help of a vet, from the sound of it, but if this is a farming area where people are in the habit of doing a lot of veterinary type care for their farm animals, and there are no “pet vets” nearby, that could make sense. With so many people having witnessed the shooting, I can’t imagine the dog was just left tied to a tree and unattended all that time.
Common sense of any kind?
L
This is not hard to understand if you read the whole article.
Dog shot 3 times, collapses, appears dead. Family goes inside crying and hugging, Grand dad suffers a nervous breakdown and is rushed to the hospital.
When they return home the next day, the wife discovers the dog is alive. The vet is going to sew him up after thanksgiving, I suspect to allow the wounds to drain. I’ve had several dogs that the vets didn’t opt to close the wounds on right away.
Now why they would allow a cop to shot their dog, they are immigrants. I would have demanded a court order, and then wanted to know what vet to delivery the dog too. NO WAY COULD A COP WALK UP AND SHOOT MY DOG. This is NAZI STORM TROOPER behavior.
robbin
They thought he was surely dead. After all, he did get a few good plugs near the head.
That’s not a home in the background, that’s a scrapyard.
Just wait till the statists find this thread...
Sounds like they are all crazy- deputy, dog owners, all- just insane. Story doesn’t make sense.
exactly, unfortunate but true !
It doesn’t help that the article reads as if it were written by a fifth grader.
Maybe it was.
That is the photo posted with the article at the link...I took it from there.
Sounds tho, like he must wander loose, or they would know for sure if he had bitten someone (I would know if my dogs did).
susie
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