Angie Laymon and her family came home from church only to find their beloved dog, Bruno had been shot. He was waiting faithfully for them on their porch as he bled out. They had no idea what had happened until they found a note on their door from Rogers County police as way of explanation.
“While our family was away from home there was a disturbance at a neighbor’s house which resulted in a call to Rogers County Sheriff. The deputy who answered the call decided to come over to our house, but nobody was home,” Laymon posted to Facebook.
“The deputy encountered my German Shepard and disregarded the canine warning and continued to approach the house. Upon reaching the house, he felt threatened and shot my dog. Then he taped a note to the door to inform me that he shot my dog – and he left my dog bleeding out on the porch.”
Bruno spent 3 hours bleeding on the porch before Laymon and her kids found him after returning home.
While our family was away from home there was a disturbance at a neighbors house which resulted in a call to Rogers…
Posted by Angie Kaemmerling Laymon on Wednesday, March 2, 2016
The Sheriff’s Department told Fox23 News that they did attempt to contact Laymon but could not reach her. However, they offered no explanation why no medical attention was sought for Bruno.
In her post on Facebook Laymon wrote: “The deputy had multiple options at his disposal….get back in his car, use mace, get medical care for the injured animal that was suffering. Senseless…unnecessary…avoidable. The dog was 100 yards or better in the interior of my property doing his job.”
The family rushed Bruno to the vet, where doctors told the family there was a 50/50 chance he would survive. The family was distraught, believing at one point Bruno might lose his life because they did not have enough funds for surgery.
Luckily, the family received an outpouring of support from well wishers and they raised enough money for Bruno’s surgery. Fortunately, Bruno pulled through. Unfortunately, the vet could not save his leg and it had to be amputated.
Posted by Angie Kaemmerling Laymon on Friday, March 4, 2016
Since the incident, Laymon has received an outpouring of support from dog lovers, but she has chosen not to publish the name of the officer who shot Bruno because she doesn’t want reprisal, but she does want restitution and change.
I think he believes he gets to go home now…..wish this journey wasn’t so tough on him
Posted by Angie Kaemmerling Laymon on Friday, March 4, 2016
“Thousands of people are heartsick at what has been done to Bruno. It is horrible, it is tragic, it is heartbreaking for my children to have witnessed it,” Laymon wrote on Facebook. “But what if someone decides to take revenge? What if someone takes the name that I share and takes justice into their own hands. What if another senseless tragedy follows the first?”
“I do want Rogers County to take a good hard look at protocol and realize that pets are family members and that this should have been avoided,” she wrote. “We truly hope that this brings about change. We would like to see each and every officer of the law receive training on how to deal with pets and animals – especially when they are on private property. We want to open their eyes to know that these are not just pets – they are members of the family. We want there to be protocol on support and treatment when an officer wounds an animal – something more than leaving it on the porch to bleed out with a simple note stating the obvious.”
For now, Laymon and her family are immediately focused on taking care of Bruno and are thankful he is alive.
“He gets to come home. At the end of the day, leg or no leg, he will get to come home and that’s the silver lining,” Laymon told KJRH.
Let’s hope that Roger’s County Sheriff’s Office examines their protocols for interacting with dogs and that they get their officers better training so that senseless acts such as these do not happen again.
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