A University of Colorado student whose dog suffered a broken leg after being struck by a Boulder police officer’s patrol vehicle wants the city to help with her $1,100 vet bill.

City officials said officers acted appropriately in the case. And while they said they would consider any claim filed by the dog’s owner, the city has not traditionally paid for animals struck by city vehicles.

Lauren Battista was asleep, and her roommate Chelsea Farese was drinking with friends, early Friday morning when Payton, an 8-month-old Australian shepherd-terrier mix, wandered away from their apartment at 828 Marine St. on University Hill.

Farese said the dog came back, looking oddly tired, and curled up under a porch swing where she was sitting with friends. A few minutes later, a neighbor came up crying that Payton had been hit by a police car, which had driven away, Farese said.

Farese put her hand down to check on the dog and came back with a handful of blood, she said.

Soon after, the officer who had struck Payton, identified as Richard French, and Sgt. Jim Byfield found them at the house.

Garrett Robley, Battista’s boyfriend, said he confronted officers about driving away from the dog after hitting it. Robley said French said he was trying to follow the dog home, a claim Robley said he finds implausible because the dog was hit so close to home and the dog’s tag has a current address.

A two-paragraph incident report written by the officer says there were two dogs on the side of the road as he drove past on Ninth Street. One of the dogs ran into the road and was struck by the rear passenger-side tire. The report said both dogs ran away, and he later located the dogs at 828 Marine St.

The police report on the incident and accounts from people at the apartment concur: Farese and other people in the home were too drunk to take Payton to the vet. They did not want to wake up Battista because she was sick, asleep and had taken medication. Police drove Farese to an emergency vet with whom the department has a contract, and then, several hours later, drove her back home while Payton rested.

Farese said Byfield told her the department would pay for the emergency vet visit, but when Battista went to get Payton in the morning, she was charged $415. The dog needed to be transferred to Battista’s regular vet at the Humane Society. That stay, which included X-rays, sedatives and other treatments, cost another $685.

Payton seems to be doing well physically, Battista said, but he’s shaky, whiny and scared to go outside.

“I haven’t ever seen him this way,” she said. “It makes me sad.”

Battista said it would mean a lot if the city helped with even some of her vet bills. But she’s just as upset, perhaps more, that she hasn’t heard back from the officers involved, despite what she said was several phone calls.

“I want to have contact with the guy who hit my dog,” she said. “I’m so angry.”

Boulder police spokeswoman Kim Kobel said the officers acted appropriately and out of concern for the welfare of the dog.

“Our officers did the right thing, and they tried to be helpful,” Kobel said.

City code requires animals to be on a leash when they are not in a fenced yard.

“The reason we have that law is to protect animals, and it is unfortunate that the dog got hurt,” Kobel said.

A risk management database that goes back to 1997 doesn’t show a single case of the city paying for an animal struck by a city vehicle, Boulder spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said.

Risk management officers who have worked for the city since the mid-1980s cannot recall a case, either.

Huntley said the city would consider any claim submitted by Battista. Part of the process would be an investigation of the accident and the legal issues involved.

“We certainly hope the dog makes a full recovery,” Huntley said.