An off-duty D.C. Metropolitan police sergeant shot a trained service dog belonging to a hearing-impaired woman the morning of Sunday, December 13 while both were at the city-owned dog park on Hanover Drive. The police officer reported that the dog “ran out of the enclosure in an aggressive manner with teeth bared. She feared for her safety, produced a handgun and fired a shot at the dog,” according to George Mathews, Greenbelt Police Department public information officer, and information in the department’s weekly crime report dated December 16. The off-duty officer also said that the dog owner was still inside the park with her two other dogs when the shot was fired. The off-duty officer called 911 at 6:30 a.m., the time of the shooting. That dispatcher notified Greenbelt police a dog had been shot.
A police investigation is in progress. After its conclusion the city Department of Planning and Development, under which Animal Control is organized, will conduct an independent investigation.
Cleo, the dog that was shot and did survive, is a pit bull trained as a service dog belonging to LaToya Plummer, who is deaf. She depends on Cleo and two other trained service dogs. All three dogs were present at the dog park that Sunday morning. The name of the police officer has not been made public.
See the full story in the paper – on Page 6:
http://greenbeltnewsreview.com/issues/GNR20151224.pdf