A visit to the Montrose Dog Beach turned tragic for a Chicago family who says their pet was killed in an altercation with another dog who, it turns out, belongs to a Chicago police officer.
A post to the Montrose Dog Beach forum MonDog in March detailed a dog fight between a pit bull and a pomeranian on March 17 that resulted in the pomeranian's death.
Witnesses posted in the forum that several people confronted the pit bull owner to point out the problem and try to get his information, but the man was uncooperative. A photo snapped of the offending dog and owner was posted to the forum in an effort to crowd-source information about his identity.
As described in the original post on MonDog:
I went over to the Pit Bull owner and asked for his name so we could have a contact number and he refused. He told me, "the other dog started it". He showed zero remorse...He was abusive then in his behavior and language to anyone who approach to talk to him about the killing. He shrewdly and aimlessly walked around for almost an hour in the park while the police were called 10-12 times and he got away.
After launching an investigation, the Chicago Police Department announced that they've identified the dog owner--and he's a five-year veteran of the police force.
The pit bull owner had even promised to meet them at the vet but never showed.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Audrey Fisher, the owner whose dog, Willy, was killed, told the Chicago Sun-Times when informed the owner had been a police officer. "All this time police have been helping me search for a police officer? Someone who showed no remorse at all, broke the law, refused to ID himself to a park full of witnesses, then lied to a 12-year-old child that he would come to the vet to see about her dying dog?"
Fisher cites both emotional and financial costs as a result of the incident. She told CBS that her 12-year-old daughter was traumatized by what she witnessed, and the 2 1/2-year-old animal's vet bills totaled to nearly $6,000.
An editor noted on MonDog that Chicago Park District Dog Park policy holds the owner of the aggressor responsible for vet costs that arise from altercations between dogs.
While his name has not been released, the CPD says the officer has been cited for failing to report the incident within 24 hours, and has been relieved of his police powers as the investigation continues, the Chicago Tribune report. The CPD had distributed fliers with photos of the offender for months before the officer came forward.
"The Chicago Police Department expects its members to demonstrate the highest standards of conduct on and off duty, and will not permit wrongdoing to go unaddressed," the department said in an issued statement.