A North Carolina sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a family dog Rocky on Monday after claiming it was approaching him “viciously.”
But Rocky’s owners say their dog was just being friendly.
The Union County sheriff’s deputy had showed up to a wrong address when he encountered the pit bull, pulling out his gun as its owner pleaded with him not to kill the dog, telling him that it won’t bite.
But the deputy shot Rocky twice.
Thai Fowls, who owned Rocky along with his wife, posted a picture of his dog lying on the pavement in a puddle of blood.
In his Facebook post, Fowls wrote that both his wife and mother told the officer to not shoot the Rocky because he will not bite the officer.
Fowls then uploaded another picture to his account of Rocky laying lifeless but this one had a Union County Sheriff patrol car in the background.
In the comments on the second picture Fowls wrote:
“FOR THE PEOPLE WHO SAY I’M LYING OR MAKING THIS UP. I DON’T PLAY LIKE THAT I DON’T THINK IT’S FUNNY. IT’S NOT A GAME THIS DOG WASN’T A PET TO US HE PART OF OUR FAMILY AND YOU CAN’T REPLACE FAMILY I’M JUST TRYING TO RAISE AWARENESS. SO STOP WITH THE NEGATIVITY AND KEEP SCROLLING IF YOU CAN’T BE POSITIVE. THANK YOU HAVE A BLESSED DAY!”
Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey has not addressed the shooting on the department’s Facebook page, but he did address the grand opening of a state-of-the-art shooting range that took place this morning.
On that Facebook post, a woman named Becky Bilokur-Tobias, who runs a Facebook page called Justice For Colonel Shot by Llano County Sheriff‘ posted the following comment:
“YOUR SHERIFF WAS AT THE WRONG ADDRESS AND SHOT ROCKY THE DOG IN HIS OWN DRIVEWAY WHILE HIDING BEHIND HIS CAR.”
In a Facebook interview with Dimoff today, Fowls said he and his wife were inside when a family friend came to their door and told them that they need to go outside because there is was a deputy out front.
His wife stepped outside to see what was going on and that is when Fowls heard her screaming, “don’t shoot, he won’t bite!”.
“As soon as they were about a few feet away from my dog he shot twice once while he was up and again when he fell one in his neck and once in his head,” Fowls said.
Fowls also said the deputy lied in the report when he claimed Rocky approached him “viciously,” making him fear for his life because the bullets struck the side of Rocky’s head and neck.
It is also noticeable in the picture that the blood trail is in the driveway and not near the patrol car.