The Rains County, Texas, sheriff’s department has fired Jerrod Dooley — the officer who shot a man’s dog while following up on a reported burglary –due to an outpouring of anger in the community and nationwide.
Sheriff David Traylor told KLTV that his office has never received so many emails and phone calls — all of them negative.
“This is a bad situation that occurred, it’s an issue that we have never had to deal with,” said Traylor in a statement.
The department will investigate whether Dooley’s actions were criminal, but has decided to fire him regardless of the outcome of the investigation, since his continued presence on the force is a distraction. Dooley had been with the sheriff’s department for six months. Traylor said the officer had received “minor complaints” in the past.
What happened between Dooley and a cattle-herding dog named Candy infuriated people who read about in local and national news outlets, including The Daily Caller. Candy’s owner, Cole Middleton, called the police to report a burglary at his dairy farm. He was in his fields when Dooley came to inspect the premises. Candy began barking at Dooley, and approached the officer, who then shot her. (RELATED: Sicko cop shoots Texas man’s dog on sight)
Dashcam footage of the incident does not show the actual shooting, nor is it clear whether Candy approached the officer in a menacing way. The shot was fired hastily, however. Afterward, Candy can be heard whimpering. The shot did not kill her, and Dooley refused Middleton’s frantic request to finish her off. Middleton eventually had to drown Candy in a bucket of water to put her out of her misery.