I recently wrote an article about the December 2016 US Court of Appeals ruling against Mark and Cheryl Brown in their case against the Battle Creek Police Department. In that case, Mark and Cheryl’s two dogs had been shot by the local police department despite not having injured any officers.
This story is fairly similar.
A few months before Mark and Cheryl Brown’s case was taken to the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, another dog was also shot by a local police department. The story caused an absolute uproar from animal activists everywhere and was circulated widely. It goes as follows:
On March 2nd, 2016, the Rogers County Sheriff Office received a call from worried citizens. It turns out that neighbors of the Laymon family had heard shots being fired in the area.
According to a statement from police, the caller said the shots seem to be coming from the northeast, and so, police made their way North to investigate, ultimately arriving at the Laymons’ house.
The Laymons were not responsible for the shots and weren’t even home at the time— but their German Shepherd Bruno was.
On her GoFundMe page, Angela Laymon writes, “According to my security cameras, we left home less than 10 minutes before the Deputy arrived.”
“My kids were at church taking part in a Wednesday night youth group. A friend brought them home and the first thing they noticed was [a] note… and then they discovered Bruno covered in blood, laying on the porch, crying and bleeding.”
On her GoFund Me page, Angela describes the incident, which was captured on film by her security cameras. She says that the deputy drove down her driveway, pulling in, and exiting his car. As he walked towards the house, he could hear Bruno barking what Angela describes as “a warning” bark.
The officer continued to approach the house, and Angela writes, “My German Shepherd barked loudly and ran in a wide arch. Within 4 seconds, the deputy shot my dog.”
“After the deputy shot my dog,” she continues, “He left a handwritten note telling me that he was attacked by a dog (contrary to his current testimony).”
The Laymons, who had been at church, essentially returned home to find their beloved pet bleeding and left to die.
In an interview with Fox23 News, she says, through tears, “If you wound an animal, you should never leave it there laying and bleeding out.”
Taking to Facebook, she later described the incident in a post that has since gone viral:
In their defense, Sherriff Scott Walton of the Rogers County Sherriff Office says that the deputy who shot the dog feels terrible; however, he is quite to note, “We were there in the most official capacity for the investigation.”
Following the immediate media attention, Fox23News later reported that there were no “Beware of Dog” signs on the Laymons’ property and that officers attempted to call animal control, but the issue was deemed “out of their jurisdiction”. According to Fox23 News, police logs also showed that numerous deputies arrived at the scene, trying to help Bruno before ultimately leaving the note.
Still, however, people are appalled by the deputy’s actions, and the Laymons received an outpouring of support.
As a result of the deputy’s shot, Bruno had to have his front left leg amputated.
Updates on the Laymons’ GoFundMe page show that Bruno’s been healing well. However, they do say he is now more anxious about strangers than ever before— but really, can you really blame him?
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