FOREST PARK, Ga. — A local police agency took drastic measures and shut down its public Facebook after one of its officers was forced to take the life of a dog.
The Forest Park Police Department found it had to defend itself against misinformation and threats against its own citizens after it posted a media release to its Facebook page Sunday.
It all stems from a dog attack on April 5.
According to the department, a resident called 911 to report a neighbor's pit bull that jumped her fence and was now loose in her backyard. The caller told police she was concerned for her children's safety and asked for an officer to respond.
When police responded to the caller's home on Shellnut Drive, the officer found the dog in the front yard, but it quickly ran away as the officer approached. However, as the officer knocked on the front door of the home, police said a different pit bull came from the back of the house through a dilapidated portion of the fence, barking and growling at the officer.
Police said the officer was "trapped and had nowhere to run" when the dog lunged at the officer. Police said the officer had no choice but to shoot the dog.
The Forest Park Police Department posted about the incident to its official Facebook page, and while it said several citizens posted comments supporting the police department, those citizens "soon became the target of profane attacks from others condemning the police." The department then made the decision to temporarily take down the Forest Park Police Department’s Facebook page until the situation could be assessed.
11Alive asked the department whether the officer was wearing a body camera at the time of the incident. While they have not yet responded to that question, police told 11Alive there have been several complaints of the same dogs being aggressive towards other people and other animals in the neighborhood, and the owner of the pit bulls has been fined for similar violations.
However, that family refuted those claims and told 11Alive's Faith Abubey they dispute the officer's version of the story, specifically the part about there being multiple calls to their home.
Shannon Delgado said it's not true that the dogs were being aggressive. She said her daughter came to live with her temporarily, bringing another pit bull. Delgado said it was that dog that escaped and got in a fight with another neighborhood dog, but that was back in October 2017. Other than that, Delgado said, there have been no other violations.
11Alive has put in a request for calls for service to the residence. According to records, there was one other incident police responded to in November 2017 in which the homeowner was quoted as being bitten in the back.
That aside, Delgado told 11Alive she still believes the situation could have been handled differently.
She said she was not even home when when her dog was shot. She said the officer should have waited for Animal Control before opening the fire.
"He didn't have to kill him," Delgado said. "If we killed one of the dogs, we would be in jail for the rest of our lives. They had no right to take away my family. That was my baby."
As for the department having to shut down their Facebook page, Delgado said it's their problem.
"I don't think hate is OK, but they shouldn't be killing other people's dogs," she said.
