A Missouri family is suing the Stoddard County sheriff and two of his deputies, claiming they killed a family dog in a "wholly unjustified," "senseless" and illegal manner.
"It's absolutely unconscionable," says attorney Russ Oliver, who represents the Penningtons, a family living outside Dexter, Missouri, that until this August included 9-year-old dog Parker.
According to the suit, filed yesterday in federal court, Parker had been a gentle, loving dog ever since he was rescued by Bryan Pennington eight years ago.
On August 27 of this year, a storm rocked the Pennington home and Parker wandered off, showing up on the doorstep of a woman named Hillary Mayberry. Mayberry posted on Facebook trying to locate Parker's owner and called the Stoddard County Sheriff's Department.
Stoddard County is southwest of Cape Girardeau, between Sikeston and Poplar Bluff.
Deputy Roger Seal arrived and put Parker in his patrol vehicle. Seal then allegedly took the dog to the Otter Slough Conservation Area, allowed it to run around briefly and then shot it once. Parker did not die immediately. Eight minutes later, Seal shot the dog again and threw its body in a ditch.
According to the suit, killing dogs in such a manner is "the standard operating practice and procedure" of the Stoddard County Sheriff's Department. The suit alleges the department does this routinely without conducting any due diligence or concern for the condition of the animal and without notifying the dogs' owners.
Oliver says the Penningtons are suing for $5 million as well as "to make sure that nobody else's dog is executed in a remote area and thrown in a ditch by people who are funded with our taxpayer dollars."
No criminal charges have been filed, though Oliver says he believes they're warranted. The lawsuit says that the deputy's behavior that day constituted felony animal abuse.
The second deputy listed as a defendant, Travis Maddox, was Seal's supervising officer at the time of the incident and gave Seal the order to kill the dog. Oliver filed the suit on behalf of Bryan and Tylla Pennington and their four minor children.
Oliver also tells the RFT that since the killing of Parker two months ago, he has filed a sunshine lawsuit over the sheriff's office's failure to provide body cam footage of the incident. Oliver says that he has only been told that the incident is under investigation.
"Parker had become like one of their children," says Oliver. "To have that basically destroyed by the hands of the government is pretty unfathomable."
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