Tamariah Tower loved her dog Roscoe, a pit bull she adopted in 2013 and raised from a puppy.

So when the Clarksville woman discovered Roscoe had been shot and killed during a dog fight last Monday afternoon while he was staying at her father's house on Britton Springs Road, she was crushed.

"I was pretty devastated," said Tower. "It hurt. I cried a lot more probably than most people would. My dog was always there for me."

Conflicting accounts

Tower says she suspected something wasn't right when she started getting conflicting accounts of what happened.

First, she was told that her dog broke off its lead and tried to attack a woman.

Then, she saw that the shooter, a neighbor of her father's, had posted a video of the incident on Facebook showing something else entirely.

"It upset me a lot, and it just disgusted me. The guy was bragging like he was a hero," said Tower.

Tower filed a police report, hoping to get what she considered justice for the dog she loved.

"It just seemed like they wanted to shoot my dog," she said. "They were trying to make him out to be a monster, and that he was vicious because he was a full-grown pit," said Tower.

Police file no charges

Clarksville Police said their investigation showed that Tower's dog had been on a lead in the front yard. Her father told police he'd gone out to bring the dog inside when the neighbor's dog came into the yard, and Roscoe attacked the smaller dog. Her father said he tried to break up the fight, but fell to the ground and was being attacked himself.

A review of the video by The Leaf-Chronicle shows Tower's father lying on the ground as two dogs fight around him.

That's when you see another man run up with a gun and try to kick the dogs away. He then shoots the larger dog, and then shoots again when it appears that the dog is trying to lunge at him.

Police said Tower's father reported the pit bull was biting his wrist and the smaller dog's head, and he feared for his safety. Police also noted the father was not injured.

And Tower's father told police that when the neighbor appeared with his gun, he told the neighbor to shoot the dog.

To Tower, that's another painful part of the saga.

"It just sucks not to know what exactly happened because of all the different stories," said Tower, who says her father told her he just wanted the neighbor to fire a warning shot in the air.

The neighbor, whom the Leaf-Chronicle is not naming because he hasn't been charged in the dog's death, removed the video from Facebook. He did not return messages seeking comment.

Tower admits her dog could be aggressive, particularly with men or animals he didn't know, but she believes this could all have been avoided.

Police said that the district attorney won't prosecute the case because it was determined that the shooting was in defense of another person and at the request of the dog's caregiver.

It's a decision that Tower believes adds insult to injury. She points out it was the other dog who came into the yard where her dog was restrained, and she believes the neighbor had ample opportunity to pull his dog away while her father restrained Roscoe.

"I just feel if they would have kept their dog on a leash, this could have all been prevented," said Tower, pointing out Tennessee's leash law for dogs.

Police say the neighbor was cited for having a dog at large.

Preventing, stopping dog fights

Dog experts say there are things owners can do to prevent winding up in this situation.

Experts say you should start when your dog is a puppy making sure they socialize with other people and other animals, and are exposed to noises and situations that might frighten them so they can overcome their fears. It's also recommended to not let play-biting get out of hand with puppies.

If you do have to break up a fight, experts say you should stay calm and look for a way to startle the dogs enough to distract them, whether by making noise, throwing water on them or tossing a blanket on them. Experts don't recommend getting in between two fighting dogs.

As for Tower, she says she's still trying to figure out how to tell her 4-year-old daughter that Roscoe is gone.

"Right now, she thinks he found a new home," she said. "I just don't how to tell her that an animal she's known her whole life is gone."

Reach Jennifer Babich at jbabich@gannett.com or 931-245-0742.