The owner of a small dog mauled to death by a pitbull at Montrose Beach says she was outraged to discover the pitbull's owner is a Chicago police officer -- and angry that the department has so far refused to release his name.



"I was shocked that he was a cop and he displayed this sort of behavior of not taking responsibility," Audrey Fisher said this morning, a day after the officer was suspended while the department investigates the attack last month.



"I wanted him to stop and talk to us. . . and he just wouldn't," Fisher said. "He was unremorseful. He didn't have any remorse, he thought it was funny. All he cared about was how he was going to get out of that beach."



Witnesses say the off-duty officer's pitbull attacked Willy, a 2½-year-old Pomeranian Papillon mix, as the small dog played with a pink ball on the beach on March 17. Willy died three days later.



Fisher said the attack started when her 12-year-old daughter threw the ball and Willy caught it. The pitbull also wanted the ball and clamped its jaws around Willy's abdomen and shook the small dog, she said.



"A man started punching the pitbull in the head, but it wouldn't let go," Fisher said.



Fisher said the officer heard the screams and jumped on the pitbull's back and pried its mouth open. When the pitbull released the dog, Willy ran underneath a chair to hide, Fisher said.



Fisher said she told the officer she was taking Willy to an emergency pet clinic and he promised to meet her there. But he never showed up, she said.



But dozens of witnesses went to police with descriptions and camera phone pictures of him. Police had handed out fliers hoping someone would recognize the pitbull's owner.



The officer eventually informed the department of his involvement in the incident and has been relieved of his police powers, pending the outcome an investigation.



"The Chicago Police Department expects its members to demonstrate the highest standards of conduct on and off duty, and will not permit wrongdoing to go unaddressed," the department said in a prepared statement.



Fisher said the department has so far refused to give her any information about the officer. "But he knows everything about me. He knows where I live, he knows where I work. He knows I'm a single mother," she said. "He has very bad judgment. What else is he capable of?



"My daughter looked at Willy as a brother and she had to witness his cold-blooded murder," she said. "I know another dog attacked him, but the owner showed no concern."



jgorner@tribune.com