Internal investigation after Miami police shoot dog – NBC 6 South Florida

A family is searching for answers after a Miami police officer allegedly shot their dog in a public park in April.

The incident, which occurred on April 12 at Sewell Park on South River Drive, is now the subject of an internal police investigation.

Nicole Iyescas said she had fun at the park with her 1-year-old dog, Miso.

“26 pounds,” she said. “It was a puppy.”

Nicole told NBC6 Investigates that she was sitting on a park bench with Miso on a leash when a man walked near where she was sitting. Nicole and her daughter Esmeralda said that Miso, a French bulldog-Malinois mix, started barking and Nicole let go of the leash.

“He approached the man and the man was also frightened,” Esmeralda explained.

Nicole said the man fell backwards and landed at the base of a large tree.

“I didn’t see Miso bite the guy,” she said. “When he got up, he saw something on his upper arm and said, ‘Your dog bit me.'”

She said the man told her he was calling animal control.

“It seemed like there had been an altercation with the animal and the gentleman was on the phone,” explained a witness who wished to remain anonymous. He said he was passing by at the time.

“It was very quiet,” he said. “The dog was on a leash, everything was under control.”

Miami Fire Department said they took a 27-year-old man to the hospital who was bitten by a dog and suffered an injury to his left arm.

Nicole and her daughter said the situation changed when Miami police arrived at the scene.

““The police officer did not give my mother the opportunity to speak, listen or give her own statement,” said Esmeralda.

She said the officer ordered her mother to sit on another bench with the dog.

“The whole scene became very tense at the end,” said Esmeralda.

Nicole said an officer ordered her not to move and to stay where she was.

“But there is a way to talk to someone instead of talking to me like that and yelling at me,” she added.

According to Nicole, Miso became agitated when the officer gave her these commands. She said she lost the leash and the dog started barking and charging toward one of the officers. She said the officer kicked Miso in the head but lost his balance and fell.

She said Miso then continued to a grassy area near the parking lot, several feet from the nearest officer.

“I heard a gunshot. My goodness,” she said. “And then I saw my dog ​​fall to the ground.”

“I saw that the dog was lying on its side,” said the witness. “It had been shot.”

The man said he did not see the moment Miso was shot, but he approached the police as the dog lay bleeding but still alive.

“I’ve mentioned to more than one officer that maybe they should call someone to either euthanize the animal or take care of it,” he said.

“They left him suffering,” Nicole said. “He was breathing and bleeding.”

Nicole said officers stopped her from approaching her dog after the shooting. She declined to comment on why the officer opened fire.

A one-page police report provides limited details about the incident, saying only that officers responded to Sewell Park on a complaint of a dog bite, “one shot was fired” and “a dog was dead at the scene.”

“For me it was like this: How did we get from a dog on a leash to a dead dog?” asked the witness.

These and other questions could potentially be answered by video footage from police body cameras. The department denied NBC6’s request for the video and refused to answer questions about the incident, citing an ongoing internal investigation.

Nicole has now filed a report with the Miami police.

““You made my life very difficult that day,” she said.

“I think it’s a really unfortunate incident and I hope the truth comes out,” the witness added.

A source in the department, who asked not to be named, said officers are not trained to provide assistance to animals.