City of Sturgeon: Police officer shoots blind dog after thinking it had rabies

STURGEON, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Sturgeon police officer shot and killed a blind dog on Sunday afternoon, according to a Monday social media post from the City of Sturgeon.

The post states that police were called to an area for a report of an “injured animal at large.” The post states the officer saw the dog “behaving strangely and displaying signs of possible injuries” that was “perceived to be rabid behavior.”

The post claims the officer felt that only option was to kill the animal, thinking it was affected with rabies. However, the post states that it was later learned that the dog’s behavior was a result of it being blind.

“Unfortunately, the animal’s lack of collar or tags influenced the SPD Officer’s decision to put the animal down due to his belief that the animal was injured, sick and abandoned,” the statement says.

The post does not describe the breed or size of the dog. There were 72 comments responding to the post, most of which were voicing criticism of the city and officer.

A person who interacted with the dog – who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of possible retaliation – filed a complaint with the city on Monday morning. Screenshots sent to ABC 17 News show the assistant city clerk stated in an email that the city’s attorney had received the complaint by 11:55 a.m.

The person sent a copy of the complaint to ABC 17 News. The complaint states that the dog was allegedly blind in one eye and the person who filed the complaint had called Boone County Joint Communications in order to get help in finding the owner. The dog allegedly wandered to their residence. The complaint states the caller allegedly told joint communications that the dog was not aggressive.

The complaint claims the caller heard multiple shots fired about 30-45 minutes after the initial call to joint communications.