Family wants answers after Haskell police officer shoots dog; authorities say dog ​​was aggressive

HASKELL, Arkansas – A family said they were in mourning after their dog was shot by a Haskell police officer.

The dog owners said they never experienced their pet as aggressive or vicious. However, Haskell police claim otherwise.

Jennifer Box said her family was in shock when they came home Sunday afternoon to find their dog shot to death.

“I saw that he had this big bullet hole in his face and jaw,” Box said.

Box said her dog, “Demon,” also known as “Pup Pup,” is a pit bull-Labrador mix.

“My husband and I had to have him put down,” Box said.

When asked if she had ever seen her dogs be vicious, Box said, “No, not at all. They just fool around with each other, but they don’t go after people or anyone else.”

According to Haskell police, officers responded to a call about a vicious animal in the 300 block of Jay Street.

The officer on scene spoke with the caller who said three neighborhood dogs came into her yard and attacked her own dog, but she was able to get back into the house with her pet.

Haskell police say the dogs approached the officer and he yelled at them and told them to go home. The officer said he then followed the animals to the house and they became aggressive and tried to attack him.

According to police, the officer initially tried to use a stun gun, but when he could no longer safely move away from the dogs, he fired a shot, injuring the dog.

“He was just in bad shape,” Box said. “He was bleeding and swollen everywhere.”

Haskell police said they had verbally warned them in the past not to keep the dogs there.

Box said when she left her house on Sunday, the dogs were in the shed.

“I don’t know if they escaped or if someone let them out, but they don’t attack people, they don’t attack other animals,” Box said.

Police said they were unable to make contact with Box after the incident. It was only when Box and her husband returned home four hours later and tried to report their dog’s shooting that they learned the officer had pulled the trigger.

“If that was the case and my dog ​​was aggressive, they would have to release the body camera,” Box said.

KARK 4 News contacted Haskell Police and learned that there is no body camera footage because it was not turned on.

Box said if it was true that her dog was aggressive, “I would understand that.”

KARK 4 News also contacted the person who made the call about the dogs, but they declined to be interviewed.