A woman who watched a dog struggle for 40 minutes after being shot by an Ambridge Police officer is still dealing with the trauma.
WARNING: Some may find parts of the audio interview disturbing
Ambridge Police say they were forced to shoot the dog, that was in their possession after it was found wandering near 23rd Street Friday, when it became aggressive toward an officer.
Police originally posted on Facebook, with pictures of the dog, asking for the owner to step forward.
Officers placed the dog in a kennel outside and gave it fresh water. A little bit later, an officer came out to check on the dog, when they opened the kennel, the dog reportedly got aggressive and bit an officer on the knee.
A second officer came and tried to help restrain the dog with a dog pole, but were unsuccessful.
They went back inside to come up with another plan and when they returned outside, they discovered the dog had gotten free of the kennel.
That’s when they say the dog went after an officer, who was forced to shot it.
Barb Marenic, who works near the police station, tells KDKA Radio she heard the shot and went outside after seeing the dog lying on its side.
“I opened the door and I screamed, ‘what did you do, what did you do, what happened’ and he just kind of put his hands in his head and he just said, ‘oh my God’,” said Marenic.
She says officers assumed the dog was dead and placed boards on top to cover it, but the dog was alive for another 40 minutes before it was put down with another shot.
Marenic says she doesn’t know if the dog being shot was justified or not, but she has an issue with the time between the first shot and the second one that put it down.
“I just think they should’ve just taken her to the Humane Society and this could’ve all been avoided, it really could’ve, but I can’t speak for the police officers, all is I know is what I saw and I just don’t feel it was right,” said Marenic.
Police say they decided to put the dog down after they got in contact with the Humane Society.