By Amanda Warren

Last week reported on the “dog that broke the internet” who was tragically and senselessly shot by a Wyckoff, NJ police officer after the officer entered the unlocked gate of a yard at the wrong home. Lots of track covering and convolution ensued to manage the impression that the officer didn’t commit the horror that people suspected – shooting someone’s pet to death “just because.” However, as tempers still flare, more and more proof becomes available that the officer and chief are tangling themselves in a web of lies.

As the family perseveres, using help from an attorney, witnesses and social media transparency, it becomes harder for the department to stand by the story that the officer was protecting himself during the emergency of a burglary. What’s worse than a possible psychopath that kills and lies? One that projects blame on to the victims suggesting that they wanted harm to come to him in the form of their “vicious” dog while he was risking himself “dutifully” protecting the neighborhood. Horse hockey. You’ll soon see why.



Basic story: Officer Kyle Ferreira claims his life was threatened by a dog coming out of a window after he went into the yard of the wrong house for an emergency burglary call on the late afternoon of April 29. The claim is that he knocked and was dutifully checking things near an open window when a “growling” dog leaped from the window, charged him and latched onto his leg/boot. He was never injured.

The problem: it has never added up. Witness accounts of trying to get the officer’s attention and watching him shoot the dog without a struggle, far-off bullet casings and more completely contradict both the officer account and the Police Chief Benjamin Fox’s extreme adherence to defending the officer. Owner Igor Vukobratovic came back from a trip to the mall to find his dog in the process of dying after it was shot at four times and hit twice (in the chest and back).





If anything, this dispatch recording should clear things up – Kyle Ferreira and the chief should be let go immediately – if only for the reason of lying. Clearly, there was no emergency. Clearly the burglary was well in the past when he came poking around at the wrong house. The address was made clear to him, and he wasn’t corrected after mumbling back the wrong address. A very twisted way of wording things with how a dog “came after me.” (not attacked)

See the description here.

An officer had later told the family:

There was a burglary in the area. Luckily it wasn’t your house – but we shot your dog.

Yeah, at some point in the past, there had been a break-in in the area. Nice way to pad with the “good news.” Covert aggressors. Simply unacceptable.

If there’s one thing clear about the aftermath of Otto’s death, it’s that there is still a line that gets crossed especially when it comes to canine family members. Another is that perseverance matters: it may not bring remorse from the parties responsible but perseverance toward accountability cannot be quelled.

If you want the chief and officer out of their offices, you need to keep calling the mayor and councilmen. It has to be respectful or they will act like victims…

Councilman Scanlan’s FB: https://www.facebook.com/ScanlanForWyckoff

Mayor Rooney’s Email: [email protected] [Possible New Account]

Wyckoff Town Hall: (201) 891-7000

Wyckoff Township Committee: [email protected]

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Timeline of events rehash: Justice for Otto is a page set up to show what happened to Otto, the friendly German Shepard, a family dog that was not trained for attack. A posting on Reddit goes viral. It connects to a heartbreaking visual story on Imgur. The Imgur story has been viewed over a quarter-million times. The GoFundMe account is rapidly receiving support in the thousands of dollars. A petition has amassed over 5,000 signatures. NJ.com had to report on it, and even close the comments due to their incendiary nature.

The chief purports there’s a social media conspiracy to “make up stories” to smear them. He gives the “dog could have killed” lines. No one at the department is being disciplined, admitting responsibility or legitimately investigating (themselves). The family (and the Internet) is not letting it go – they openly state that the department is lying and launched their own investigation. See how the department story can’t possibly add up?

Casings – from the album EVIDENCE

A friend writes:

Igor & I began to put the pieces together. (This chart is ours.) Desperate to cover their tracks, the police concocted the story about the bitten boot and the open window, as a way to justify deadly force. They made no investigation, displaying negligence so great that Igor & I discovered ballistics at the scene they had not recovered themselves, proving the Officer could have never investigated the yard prior to drawing his weapon. The police continue to lie, insult Igor’s family, and have not yet publicly apologized.

Please don’t stop at the apology. Get them out of office!

Councilman Scanlan’s FB: https://www.facebook.com/ScanlanForWyckoff

Mayor Rooney’s Email: [email protected] [Possible New Account]

Wyckoff Town Hall: (201) 891-7000

Wyckoff Township Committee: [email protected]

Saying Goodbye at the animal hospital

Visit Justice for Otto – please share this story or the ones that were linked to above.

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