A family in Connecticut is alleging that police shot their dog for no reason in front of their children during a misdemeanor arrest. Police came to the house of Michael Dadio, Sr. to arrest him. He was mowing the lawn and his girlfriend’s kids were playing in the back yard when they tasered Dadio and shot the dog.

Dadio had failed to show up at court on DUI charges. Officer Jason Zullo reported that he “immediately recognized Michael Dadio standing in front of his [son’s] residence.” He said that when he and another officer approached Dadio, the suspect ran — forcing them to give chase. When they went into the back yard, they say that “Sgt. Miller was confronted by an aggressive dog/pit bull forcing him to discharge his weapon.”

The Dadio family says that when it went to complain about the dog shooting, the officer in charge told them “it’s just a dog.” The department has been under federal investigation and the sergeant who killed the dog is involved in the controversial arrest of a priest last year involving allegations of racial profiling.

We have seen a spate of recent dog shootings (and here) in arrest situations, including cases of mistaken addresses or identities.

Source: New Haven Advocate