LAKEWOOD, Wash. — A family is devastated after their dog “Uso” was shot by Lakewood Police during an investigation into a report involving a family member.
Around 6:50 p.m. on Feb. 5, Lakewood Police answered an intimidating with a weapon call near 10300 Bridgeport Way Southwest.
Following their investigation, police went to a home near 10400 Occidental Street to find the person suspected of second-degree assault.
According to police, once they established probable cause, officers surrounded the house while others were at the front door.
This is when the Uso was shot in their backyard.
“An officer that was on the back side of the residence was approached by a large dog,” Lakewood PD told KIRO 7. “When the dog became aggressive towards the officer, the officer fired his duty weapon striking the dog.”
Police said that the dog ran back into the house and was later taken to a local veterinary clinic by the owner. Police said the dog received treatment and was in stable condition.
However, Uso’s family did not feel the shooting was justified.
“Officers were called to our Family’s lakewood home two nights ago about false reports made by a homeless lady living in her car with her Dog in a church parking lot behind the home,” the family wrote in a Facebook post. “When officers arrived on the scene A few Officers entered through the side-gate of the home without permission.”
The family said that a minute into their conversation with police, they heard a gunshot.
“Officer shooter approached Uso and flashed his light in his face. Uso barked once trying to notify our Family there was people in their backyard and with no remorse the Officer immediately shot Uso in the nose,” the family continued in their post.
According to the family, Uso was taken to Summit Veterinary Referral Center, where the family said that basic care was provided but that the necessary surgery could not be completed without the funds to cover the cost.
Police told KIRO 7 that they completed their investigation and referred Second-degree assault charges to the Lakewood Prosecutor’s Office for review.
Sina Tavila, who owns the dog, told KIRO 7 she felt like police were ignoring her request for information. “I was treated like I was literally not there. I was asking questions, I was asking the police what was going on. They would turn me down. I get it, it was like, you know it happened like that, so I understand but again, I don’t know, this should’ve never happened.”
Tavila said she plans to sue the Lakewood Police Department and now has to find a way to raise $17,000 to pay for Uso’s surgery.
The family has set up a GoFundMe to raise money to cover the costs of the surgery. The link is provided below if you would like to help.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/usos-critical-medical-needs-after-incident
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