Mississippi investigator shoots family dog

A Cleveland police officer fatally shot a family's one-year-old yellow labrador dog while it was tied to a leash.

On June 12, Tyler Muzzi returned home after lunch to discover a stranger walking back and forth outside his neighbor's home. Muzzi saw the man walk up the neighbor's driveway twice before disappearing around the opposite side of the home. Muzzi alerted the homeowner, Bryant Steele, who then called the Cleveland police.

The police arrived at Steele's home within minutes and arrested the man, who had entered his house but exited to give himself up to police.

Assuming that police were finished with the scene, Muzzi said he was surprised to hear gunshots later. Unsure of where the shots were fired, Muzzi opened his front door to see what had happened. "At first, I thought I had heard only two shots, but there were actually three that had been fired," said Muzzi. "I thought they had shot the man in custody or something."

An officer told Muzzi that his yellow labrador was shot and that he needed to check on the dog. Muzzi rushed to his backyard to find his dog, Miller, injured, while the officers and the investigator who shot the dog looked on silently, hesaid. The dog had been tied to a leash before the police arrived on scene. When he saw his dog lying on the ground wounded, Muzzi said he was in complete shock. Quickly, he wrapped his dog in towels and called the Cleveland Pet Clinic to say that he was coming with his injured dog. The police called animal control which arrived to help Muzzi transport his dog to the vet. The veterinarians found that Miller's spine had been severed in two places. Shortly after, the dog died.

Muzzi said the police officer who shot the dog apologized to Muzzi and told him that he felt threatened and didn't see the leash, but later on, Cleveland Police Chief Charles Bingham told Muzzi and his wife Bethany that the investigator saw the leash but had the right to shoot the dog since he felt threatened. The Muzzis were shown videos of the incident as it happened. The cameras did not capture the investigator shooting the dog. They could only hear the dog bark, and they heard the officer open fire in a span of 4 seconds in the background, Muzzi said. Bingham told Muzzi that the police department would pay for Miller's vet bill and buy another dog for his family. "That was like a slap in the face," said Muzzi. Muzzi said that Miller was a very friendly dog and was never aggressive toward strangers.

Citing potential litigation facing the police department, Bingham declined to comment at all on the story Tuesday.

The Bolivar Commercial reported that the investigator who shot the dog is currently on administrative leave.

Tyler and his wife Bethany Muzzi did not tell their 5-year-old daughter Emma that their dog had been shot. Instead, they told her that Miller had been hit by a car. "We wanted to keep her innocent," said Muzzi, "We don't want her to be scared of law enforcement."

Many people have offered to give the family a dog, but they family has declined all offers. Emma's grandmother gave her a yellow labrador clay statue which resembles her dog Miller. "(Emma) takes the clay statue to sleep, pets it, brings it food," said Muzzi, "My wife and I have been really upset about it. Just heartbroken. But Emma's been really strong."

Tyler Muzzi said the family has has been very appreciative and received overwhelming support not only from the Cleveland community but from as far as Alaska and Canada. A New York man named Nick Barone, whom the Muzzi family did not know before this incident, heard the story and created a Facebook page titled "Justice 4 Miller Muzzi" to show support for the dog and the family. The page has garnered nearly 5,000 likes since its creation last weekend.

Barone is a national director for "Freeze Don't Shoot,", an online group that creates Facebook support pages for families whose dogs are shot by police. Barone heard about the Muzzi's dog through a news article posted online and almost immediately started the Facebook page. "You have no idea how many dogs are shot daily by police," said Barone, "There was just a case in New Jersey where a police officer showed up at the wrong house and shot someone's German Shepherd. We're trying to get the word out and increase public awareness and get support." Barone believes the police do not have to answer to anyone, saying "there is no accountability and so (the police) investigate themselves and this allows them to get away with this day after day."

Contact Royce Swayze at (601) 961-7248 or rswayze@gannett.com. Follow @royce_swayze on Twitter.