Yvonne Rosado Bronx family dog shot dead: Did the NYPD use excessive and unwarranted force when one cop shot dead a family dog? Family launch lawsuit.
Bronx woman Yvonne Rosado has launched a lawsuit against the NYPD after a police officer shot dead the family dog dead with a single gunshot to the head for doing nothing more than wagging its tail after the family front door was opened.
Video in the vestibule caught the incident in which two police officers respond to a call at a neighboring apartment in the Bronx when Yvonne Rosado opened the door to see what the commotion was about.
In the surveillance tape (see below), obtained by the nydailynews, cops are seen knocking on the family door when the family’s four year old pitbull, Spike ,wonders out into the hallway excitedly wagging its tail.
As the excited dog walks into the hallway one of the officers who already has his gun drawn begins to back down the stairwell and without provocation suddenly pops the happy dog in the head.
The cop, who the NYPD has refused to name, is then seen backing away down the stairs as furious relatives and friends of Yvonne Rosado stream out of their apartments.
One woman wearing just her underwear stumbles down the stairs and has to be restrained by more police officers as she tries to slap the cop who opened fire on Spike on February 13.
Told Yvonne Rosado: ‘The officer just reacted badly. I was screaming, “He’s friendly! He’s friendly!” But he still did that to my dog.’
The woman went on to tell that the family dog was a ‘a gentle giant‘ and her ‘big snuffleupagas‘.
Adding: ‘He would wag his tail letting everyone know he was friendly.’
Neighbor Irma Sue Santiago, 46, said Spike ‘died wagging his tail‘, but was also furious that police opened fire so close to her home.
‘What if he had missed the dog and shot my daughter?’ Ms Santiago said. ‘She’s traumatized by the whole thing.’
The mother added that the person police were searching for when they called round at the apartment building in response to a domestic incident had left some time ago.
A report via the dailymail tells that he police officer who shot dead the family dog was taken to hospital to be treated for tinnitus, while Ms Santiago’s 16-year-old daughter Serena – who saw the dog dying in a pool of its own blood – has had to undergo psychiatric therapy to help her deal with the harrowing sight.
Responded Police spokesman Lieutenant John Grimpel: ‘The incident is being reviewed by our force investigation division and the findings will be subject to a firearms discharge review board.’
According to NYPD policy, cops can shoot at animals ‘only to defend themselves or others from threat of physical injury, or death.‘ They are only allowed to use their weapons ‘as a last resort to stop an animal attack.’
Since Yvonne Rosado’s pitbull came to be shot, the NYPD has declined to explain why her dog was killed nor for that matter issued an apology.
