It is no secret that cops shoot dogs — a lot. Frequent readers of TFTP know too well how many beloved family pets are gunned down every year by public servants in the U.S. It happens so much that there is a term for it called “puppycide.” We have an endless archive of stories in which dogs meet their untimely ends at the end of a cop’s gun.
According to an unofficial count done by an independent research group, Ozymandias Media, a dog is shot by law enforcement every 98 minutes. That number could be higher too as many of the cases never make the media reports.
When these cases do make the local media, often times, they are dismissed by apologists who claim the dogs’ owners were committing crimes or should have had better control of their dog. Unfortunately, however, it is not just people suspected of crimes who see their dogs gunned down in front of them. Cops go onto the wrong properties all the time and kill the dogs of innocent families — and they do so with impunity.
The Perez family in Los Angeles found this out the hard way last week when police were raiding the house behind them. On June 8, 2021, around noon, multiple Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies were serving a warrant at the house behind the Perez’s home.
According to Leticia Perez, while serving the warrant on the home behind theirs, cops came into their locked gate—despite protests and warnings from the neighbors.
“They knew they were at the wrong house and our next–door neighbors told deputies that Princess was in the yard, but they came on our property anyway,” explained Leticia.
“I’m yelling at the cop, ‘Don’t go in there, there’s a dog, don’t go in there!” the Perez’s neighbor, Mona Foster recalled to reporters. But police didn’t listen.
As police entered the yard—unlawfully—Leticia says her 8-year-old daughter was in the backyard feeding their dog Princess “when a deputy with a shotgun shot Princess twice, hitting her in the mouth and shoulder.”
“It’s not fair what happened to her, she was just doing her job defending her family,” Alfredo Perez told local news FOX 11. Luckily, Princess survived, but she is fighting for her life.
Naturally, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department made no mention of the officer being in the wrong yard and they issued a cookie cutter statement about a dog charging them during the execution of a search warrant.
“During a search warrant, a large dog (Bull Mastiff) rushed towards deputy personnel. Fearing they would be attacked, a deputy fired 2 rounds from his weapon. The dog was stuck by the gunshots and was alive in the yard. Animal Control was notified of the incident and the dog was later transported to a veterinarian by a neighbor.”
But they had no warrant to be on the Perez family’s property which makes them liable for shooting their dog. According to the Perez family, so far, no one from LASD has apologized or offered to pay the medical bills.
“I was telling my wife,” Alfredo Perez said. “We’re surprised that they haven’t tried to communicate. Nothing with us.”
According to the family, “the estimate is $20,000 for the surgery and care to repair the damage done to Princess by LA County Sheriff deputies. Princess needs a jaw surgery and treatment for a wound in her neck/shoulder as well as both paws on her left side.”
The family has since launched a GoFundMe account to raise money for Princess’ surgeries and it is currently sitting just shy of the goal. If you would like to help the Perez family undo the damage caused by negligent and apparently trigger-happy deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, you can donate here.
This article was originally featured at The Free Thought Project and is republished with permission.
