The owner of two dogs that were shot by a police officer in Minneapolis is seeking answers.
Surveillance video footage that was released this month shows an unnamed officer with the Minneapolis Police Department walking backward before opening fire on a terrier, hitting it in the jaw.
“He was wagging his tail,” the dogs’ owner, Jennifer LeMay, was quoted by the Minneapolis Star Tribune as saying.
“My dog wasn’t even moving, lunging toward him or anything.”
Another terrier belonging to LeMay then comes in, prompting the officer to open fire. The dog was hit in the face, side, and shoulder before the officer jumps a fence.
Both dogs survived. However, it’s going to cost LeMay: one of the dogs still needs about $7,000 in surgeries.
“My dogs were doing their job on my property,” she told the paper. “We have a right to be safe in our yard.”
“You’re on my property, my house, unannounced, without permission,” LeMay told ABC6. “This is animal cruelty. This is trespassing. and this is a complete violation.”
A polices spokesman, Corey Schmidt, said that more information would be released later on the video footage showing the shooting.
“We are aware of the recent incident involving MPD officers responding to an audible residential burglary alarm and while at this call an MPD officer discharged their firearm, striking two dogs belonging to the homeowner,” Schmidt said in a statement, ABC6 reported. “Anytime an officer discharges their firearm in the line of duty there is an investigation. We are in the process of reviewing the video posted online, as well as the officer’s body camera video.”
A GoFundMe was set up for the dogs’ medical procedures, where $32,000 has been raised as of Friday afternoon.
The video can be seen below (WARNING: might be disturbing for some viewers):
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