Police Chief Shoots Family’s Lost Puppy While It Was Caged

The internet is outraged over a Missouri police chief who fatally shot a lost puppy who belonged to a loving family. Amid the backlash, the officer has resigned from his position.

According to the Washington Post, Sparta Police Chief Andrew Spencer received a call that a pit bull and lab mix was running around the neighborhood and barking at people. Spencer and a citizen volunteer arrived at the scene to find the dog barking but not biting anybody. Another citizen informed Police Chief Andrew Spencer that he was planning to shoot the dog before children came walking through the area after being released from school.

“I did not want to destroy the dog if we could help it, and certainly did not want to destroy it in a neighborhood where it was possible children were watching,” Andrew Spencer said in a police report. “I also told him discharging a firearm in such close quarters was dangerous as well as illegal.”

Andrew Spencer captured the dog and stowed it in a cage. He reportedly attempted to contact animal control but could not get through, according to the Springfield News-Leader. So Spencer decided it would have to be brought to a veterinarian to be put down, claiming he wanted to find “the cheapest vet to destroy the dog at the cost of the city.”

But before he could take the puppy away, Police Chief Andrew Spencer was called away to the scene of a collision. Believing the car crash took priority over the dog, Andrew Spencer decided it would be faster and cheaper to kill the dog himself, rather than take it all the way to a vet’s office.

“Due to the higher priority call and the imminent destruction of the dog,” said Andrew Spencer. “I decided it was best to destroy the dog and respond to the accident.”

So Andrew Spencer took the puppy to a police firing range and shot it in the head while it was still inside the cage. What the officer didn’t realize is that the puppy was the beloved pet of a local family who had been looking everywhere for him.

According to local news site KSPR, the 16-month-old puppy belonged to a woman named Elizabeth Womack. She has started a Facebook page to tell the story of how Andrew Spencer killed her dog, who was named Chase. So far, the page has more than 2,700 likes, with hundreds of people voicing their outrage over the impulsive actions of Police Chief Andrew Spencer.

While Spencer claims the dog was rushing people, Elizabeth Womack claims the puppy was completely harmless.

“The only reason our dog would charge at anybody would be to play. He was just such a playful little pup. He had no aggression. He didn’t know what that was.”

Womack had to contact the police to inquire about why her puppy had been shot in the head, and Police Chief Andrew Spencer told her he was “forced to destroy” the dog.

However, the actions of Andrew Spencer violate a city ordinance that stipulates “stray” dogs must be held for at least five days to ensure that no owners claim them. Andrew Spencer didn’t even wait an hour.

“He took it out and shot it, which violates the city ordinance,” said Sparta Mayor Mike Younker

Police Chief Andrew Spencer left the department on Monday.

“I trusted this dog with everything. With my son,” Womack said. “We had a kennel for Chase, and all [my son] does is he sits in the kennel now. He’ll just sit there and look around and call for Chase.”

Do you think Andrew Spencer got off easy for shooting the lost puppy?

For a story about a lost pit bull with a happier ending, read about Veyron, the scared pit bull who experienced human kindness for the first time.

[Pit Bull Image via That’s Sum Photography / Andrew Spencer Image via The Sparta Police Department]