Nassau County deputy shoots family's dog the day after another dog bit him

A Bryceville family is devastated after a deputy shot their dog Lola.

That same deputy had just been bitten by a dog while on duty the day before.

Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper said the dash-cam video shows the deputy did what he had to do to protect himself.

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Those Nassau County deputies were at Jennifer Sheerin and Howard Muhs’ home because a neighbor reported that she thought she heard a burglar there.

Dash-cam video shows the deputies drew their guns as they walked past the “beware of the dog” sign on the fence.

When two of the deputies walked around the corner of the home toward the backyard, the video shows Lola running toward them.

“The dog appeared suddenly, coming at him aggressively. And if he had not shot the dog, he would have been bit,” said Leeper.

The incident report said Deputy David Lewis fired three times, striking Lola once.

“She was probably coming out to lick him, to be honest with you. She’s never bit anybody,” Muhs said.

“We’ll just miss coming home to her every day. It was part of the sunshine in our life,” said Sheerin. “That was my baby. That was my – we don’t have kids. That’s my kid.”

Action News Jax asked Sheriff Leeper how deputies decide whether to shoot a dog.

“If the dog is aggressive and coming toward the officer and the officer feels like his life is in danger, then certainly, he or she needs to take appropriate action and sometimes that is to shoot the dog,” said Leeper.

Sheerin worries that Lewis pulled the trigger because he’d just been bitten by another dog in Bryceville the day before.

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An incident report said the dog bite left puncture wounds in Lewis’ leg.

“He shot to kill. He didn’t give her a chance. I could’ve taken her to the vet if he’d have shot her elsewhere, or maced her, or stunned her,” said Sheerin.

Action News Jax asked Leeper what dog owners can do to prevent this from happening to their pets.

“Keep control of your animals. Keep them on a leash. Keep them locked up to prevent them from biting someone else. Because they can kill another person,” said Leeper.

Nassau County’s leash ordinance does not require dogs to be restrained while they’re on their owner’s property.

Cox Media Group