Redford Township Police Shoot Puppy In His Own Fenced Yard

A Michigan woman and her boyfriend are distraught after a Redford Township police officer killed their puppy, Rock, while in pursuit of a suspect. The Redford Township officer was chasing a suspect on foot when the police officer’s path crossed with the 10-month-old lab/pit mix puppy in Bianca Alakson’s fenced-in back yard in the 19000 block of Norborne Street. The incident occurred around midnight on Sunday.

Redford Township police said the officer thought he saw the suspect in the house. Believing the suspect may have gone through the back door, the Redford Township officer crossed through the unsecured entrance of the yard’s fence in an attempt to apprehend the suspect. After entering the fenced-in back yard, which had a “Beware of dog” sign displayed, the officer says he was charged by the 10-month-old puppy. The Redford Township officer said he stepped back from the dog, who then continued towards him. The officer told WDIV News that he then fired one round. When the puppy continued towards him, he killed the dog.

A Redford Township police spokesperson said, “Everyone here loves animals. It’s the last thing we want to do, but we have to protect ourselves.”

After the Redford Township police officer killed the puppy, the resident’s boyfriend questioned the police about the incident, according to The Oakland Press. The man was then arrested and handcuffed. The suspect that the Redford Township officer was pursuing was not found in the yard, and there are no reports about the status of that pursuit at this time. Alakson has since bailed her boyfriend out of jail. The couple was interviewed by WDIV News and explained that their puppy wasn’t trained to be a guard dog, but was just shocked to see an intruder in its yard. They said their dog has never been aggressive.

While some of the public agrees with the Redford Township police’s stance that it was an unfortunate necessity, most public comments on the story are supportive of Alakson, her boyfriend, and the puppy that was killed. The pubic majority feels police are too quick to shoot dogs.

The top comment on WDIV‘s report questioned, “Where is the person they were chasing? The one the officer said he saw in the house before he went into the yard and shot the dog. Officer has to justify being in the yard because he killed the dog so he uses the old I saw him through the window story but why no arrest. Instead they arrest the resident because he confronted them about shooting his dog. Great job Redford PD for your support of a officer who appears to have fabricated a story to cover himself. You are probably proud but Redford residents should be afraid.”

A Michigan resident told Inquisitr, “If you go rushing into ppl houses, yards etc a dog will naturally want to defend. Doesn’t mean ur life is at risk, officers should know this they work with K-9 units.”

“A 10 month old pit can do some real damage. He shouldn’t have shot it, but let’s not have a candle lit vigil for the dog. They should just pay the family like 10,000. Make it cost too much to shoot peoples dogs,” another person wrote.

A few comments supported the police’s decision because of the puppy’s size and breed. Do you support the Redford township police officer’s decision to shoot the 10-month-old lab/pit puppy?

[Photo from WDIV video]