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Report: Dog shot by Rock Island County deputy ‘lunged’ and made ‘attempt to bite’

Documents provided by the Rock Island County Sheriff’s Department show that the case involving a dog shot and killed in East Moline is now closed.

Documents provided by the Rock Island County Sheriff's Department show that the case involving a dog shot and killed in East Moline is now closed.

On June 16, 2014, a deputy responded to reports of two Rottweilers running at large.

The deputy was able to get one dog into his squad car, but eventually shot the other. That dog was later put down at the Rock Island County Animal Shelter.

Get more coverage of this story - click here.

Tuesday, News 8 received an incident report and 911 calls from the Rock Island County Sheriff's Department that provide the deputy's side of the story.

Two separate calls were made to 911 operators about the Rottweilers running loose shortly after 6 a.m. on June 16th.

The first caller said she was concerned about the unknown dogs who had a minor encounter with her own dog, leashed in the front yard.

"This is like the fourth dog in a month that I've had running loose through my yard from these people over here. And these, I'm worried about," she said. "I want something done about these dogs. I can't leave for work."

The second caller expressed similar worries about 20 minutes later.

"There's two big dogs in my neighbor's yard, and they're trying to knock over the cage where he's got rabbits, and they're trying to eat them. They're jumping, and I'm afraid to approach them," she said. "There's a lot of kids that walk by here to go to school."

That's when a Rock Island County Sheriff's deputy found the Rottweilers on 172nd Street in East Moline.

After corralling the first, he writes in the report:

"The Rottweiler attempted to get into the rabbit pen several times by clawing at the pen and continued to run around the pen snapping at the rabbit inside with its mouth. I tried to gain control of the Rottweiler; however, the Rottweiler lunged at me once in an attempt to bite me while it ran around the pen agitated.," the deputy's statement said.

The deputy then contacted his superior by radio, who gave authorization to put the Rottweiler down.

Neighbor Shelby Gosa said she petted both of the dogs, and that neither acted aggressively while she was outside. She ran out of the house after hearing a gunshot and began filming the aftermath, saying she was confused and upset.

"I immediately assumed it had bit the officer, but he told me that it didn’t, and I was really, really confused as to why this officer would think that shooting a dog is a good idea," said Gosa.

Since then, the owners of the dog, known as Fisher, have spoken out, calling the deputy's actions cruel and out of line. This past weekend, a rally was held in support of Fisher outside the sheriff's department.

“Pets are more than just a pet, they are part of people’s family and deserve a better chance than just being shot for no reason," said owner Kitty Smith.

The Rottweilers' owner was issued a citation for a dog running at large.

Documents show that the case status is now 'closed.'

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