Denver business owner Jeff Fisher took his 8 year old, friendly dog Ziggy to work with him every day. He had raised Ziggy from the age of 6 weeks and considered him a family member and “best friend”.
On Monday night, a pair of Adams Co deputies were responding to an alarm at another address but went to Mr. Fisher’s business by mistake. He says they did not identify themselves as law enforcement but instead forced entry into the business. Mr. Fisher says Ziggy got excited and ran outside, wanting to play. As he turned to come back to Mr. Fisher, one of the deputies shot him. And then shot him again. And then shot him a third time. Ziggy died as a result.
There is a heartbreaking video of Mr. Fisher talking about his beloved pet at the link:
“And I’m yelling ‘You shot my dog. You shot my dog.’ And the police officer says ‘You need to calm down. You can get a new dog,” Fisher said.
Mr. Fisher has an attorney and plans to file a lawsuit.
The Adams Co Sheriff’s office declined to answer questions about the case on camera but told the local news by phone that the office will investigate itself in the matter. The officer who killed Ziggy remains on duty. There is a background story on the officer here.
The Adams Co pound kills healthy/treatable pets according to the Maddie’s Fund stats posted on its website. Citizens with an after hours AC emergency are directed to call the Sheriff’s office. Whether it’s during regular hours or after hours, there appears to be an ongoing emergency in Adams Co – the government doesn’t value the lives of pets.
(Thanks Clarice for sending me this story.)
I feel sick just reading it. I cannot imagine the trauma and heartbreak. It’s just out of control.
Oh, Adams County! We lived there briefly from Feb 2011-June 2012. Not long after we first arrived, we were sitting at a stoplight in the evening and a beautiful, young Great Dane came around the corner and started going up to car windows saying hi to people. I waited for an owner to follow, but no one came. When the light turn green, people started HONKING AT THE DOG. So, I jumped out, looped one of our dogs’ leashes around his neck and pulled him over to the sidewalk. He was a sweetie, but totally untrained, dragging me around. I started knocking on doors looking for his owners, but no one had ever seen him. Usually I would have taken him home, but we had not even finished unpacking and the house wasn’t near dog-proofed. I called the animal shelter, but they were closed and said if I couldn’t take him home with me, I should just LET HIM GO AGAIN!!! Gahhhh! We ended up knocking on the door of a police officer, whose wife said if we could get him to the station, her husband would take care of the dog. So, we loaded him into our car, a small SUV with the back filled with stuff. We had two people, a 90 lb dog, a 70lb dog a pomeranian, and this huge Great Dane. What a circus. I followed up and he was reunited with his owners the next day, after being chipped and given a rabies shot. They lived 1 street over from where I’d stopped looking, and no one had seen the dog before? You’d notice a Great Dane being walked, I think.
Oh my gosh.that poor man and his dog! That makes me cry. i would have to go to get mental health treatment and suw their ass for all tbey had. How about freaking gun control for no good cops
“You need to calm down. You can get another dog.”???!
WTF. Why do I think that the police would take this investigation more seriously if the cops had shot up the guy’s car, rather than his dog?
And why is dog shooting done so casually for some cops? Like it’s no big deal, just target practice for them?
I hope they get their asses sued off because that’s the only thing that will force change.
That poor man.
This is getting so out of control all over. Almost makes you want to put signs on your doors NO EMERGENCY RESPONSE FROM POLICE ALLOWED I don’t want my dogs killed for saying hi.
Cue the template.
Sadly, yes.
this is not the first time I have heard.. “calm down.. you can get a new dog”.. I have read this in other dog shootings..the macho mentality of cops and dogs has to stop.. dogs are NOT target practice while you make up for your small amount of manhood.. or woman hood..would be interesting to see how many dogs are shot by police MEN vs police WOMEN.. but even one is too many.. and this is beginning to be epidemic..
They would had arrested or killed me that night!! I pray for justice!!
Yet again, police shows how much they don’t care for people’s pets. Happens a lot, worst part they get away with it. The whole corrupt police department is backing those dirty cops that shoot family pets. I would so sue the whole police department over there for a failure to educate their officers/deputies of how to handle dog situations and how NOT to use deadly force on dogs that are family members. The law enforcement gotta remember they are in this business to serve and protect not to annoy and upset.
First off they should be taken off duty without pay until this can be resolved. Second, if they didn’t have a gun Ziggy would still be alive. Third, I’m so fucking sick of testosterone riddled police depts. How dare they just bust into an innocent man’s place of business and shoot his dog for no reason?! Fucking check the address, asswipe! Nobody, not even the police, have the right to bust down a door unless absolutely positive there is imminent danger inside. I’m so angry I can scream!
Update on the Officer who shot Ziggy.
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/01/16/deputy-who-allegedly-shot-killed-ziggy-the-dog-involved-in-previous-shooting/
He has posted on his facebook page:
NO TRESPASSING. VIOLATORS WILL BE SHOT. SUVRIVORS WILL BE SHOT AGAIN.
One of the finest. He’s also been cited for leash law violations with his own dogs AND failure to license BUT since he’s an Officer they were all DISMISSED.
I wonder how he treats HIS personal dogs.
UGH…I am so very very very angry and sad.
This guy shouldn’t have access to a gun! Hope that Ziggy’s people will do all they can legally to get some justice for this poor dog.
Sickening. This sort of thing is getting all to common.
Interesting reading the vaccine immunity page — shots every 2-4 weeks until 16 weeks? It’s not the money that concerns me here; it’s the lost time in socialising and integrating the dog into your daily life that gives me pause.
I lived in a developing country with a very high pathogen load area — so bad that before the vaccine was available, every new puppy came with its own heartbreak: it was a struggle to get them to live to be a year old. After the DHLPP vaccine arrived, puppies got one shot at six weeks, another at ten… and lived to be 11 (years, not weeks). Rabies at 12 weeks would complete the set.
In the much lower-load region that is the civilized First World, surely a simpler regimen can be on offer for lower-income and shelter environments? Widespread uptake of a good regimen must beat poor uptake of a perfect one.
Once again we hear of cowboy cops, coming in blazing, shooting at will, with no justification, at the first thing they feel they can get away with. Remember, these arent family “pets”, but family members being killed.
I can’t remember so many dogs or people being murdered in the past like it is today by police. What is changing about those that are paid to “protect & serve?” Is it their belief that they’re “special?” They’re above the law? They can get away with it? Itchy trigger fingers? No concern for others or their property? They enjoy killing? Are they serial killers with few options of how to get away with it? Do they just hate dogs & the folks that care for them?
Even when dog care takers sue the policemen who kill, I seriously doubt their local judge will place much value on the dogs over the boys in blue bank accounts. The local powers that be will slowly ‘sweep it all under the rug’ until the stink dies down & everyone goes away, as it has been in the past.
New legislation to protect the 4 legged family members from law enforcement, during any entry upon their property, has to be put in place for their future protection & care taker’s piece of mind. Dogs are always innocent of anything any warrant for the perpetrators is for, so why not guarantee their protection from the ones that are known to kill them? Only during a witnessed attack should an armed officer be allowed to fire his weapon at a dog, otherwise it should be the same as a murder charge, with heavy financial penalities.
Aren’t police dogs protected with the same penalities as any police officer? Shouldn’t our dogs have the same protections? Until they do, police will continue to kill them with imputiny, as they have.
“The Adams County deputy who shot a dog named “Ziggy” after responding to the wrong building for a burglary has been taken off patrol duty permanently, according to the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.”
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/deputy-who-killed-ziggy-the-dog-taken-off-patrol-duty-permanently
Good. I wonder if his fellow officer is backing him up in his part of the shooting or no?
Wow. Of course you expect the other side of the story to be different but this police chief came off as sorta slimy to me. I’m glad public pressure and legal action was brought to bear in this case. I think it helped.
On Sat, Jan 19, 2013 at 10:12 AM, YesBiscuit!
Oh definitely. Without the “storm of controversy”, you can be sure that no action would have been taken.
And yeah, “slimy” is the word for the Chief. “His story has changed” to “well, he’s talking to us now, so that’s different”…like he’s trying to paint the owner as shifty and possibly irresponsible about his dog, but got called on it immediately and had to back away.
The deputy that killed Ziggy shot a dog in 2011.
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/01/25/woman-says-adams-county-deputy-was-not-sorry-about-shooting-her-dog/