Wilbraham Pitbull

Police say they were forced to fatally shoot this pit bull on March 29 after it aggressively charged two officers who were summoned to a Boston Road home for a domestic dispute. The dog's owner says the officers overreacted and that the dog, named Jager Michael, did not pose any danger. (Facebook photo)

WILBRAHAM – Police say they were forced to fatally shoot a pit bull late last month after it attempted to attack an officer who was responding to a domestic dispute reported at a Boston Road home.



Family members, distraught and angered over the incident, have created a Facebook page to mourn their beloved dog, a 3-year-old named Jäger Michael. They say he was rushing to greet the officers and posed no danger to them.



"He loved my (nephews), he loved my cats, he loved anybody that walked right up to the house," said Whitney Russo, Jäger's owner. "My dog was excellent with strangers."



Police Chief Roger Tucker, while mindful of the family's loss, said this week that the two responding officers acted correctly in their response to a dangerous situation. The officers were not injured, he said.



"We can appreciate that," he said of the family's grief and anger. "The two officers who went there both own dogs....I understand it's an emotional issue."



Tucker said the incident began on March 29 at about 1:20 p.m. when officers Peter Laviolette and Thomas Korzec were summoned to what he described as a "boyfriend / girlfriend dispute" at 3264 Boston Rd.



The officers, arriving at the property, saw no sign of either the residents or the dog outside the home, Tucker said. The dog came at them, apparently from inside the home and out through a side door, after they walked through a gate into a fenced-in area.



The dog charged at Laviolette, who reacted by bending over and offering a hand for the dog to sniff, Tucker said.



"It appeared that the dog was going to do way more than that," Tucker said, adding that the dog attempted to bite the officer's forearm, Tucker said.



Korzec, to protect his partner and himself, shot the dog twice, Tucker said. "They didn't see any immediate way of controlling the animal that was attacking," he said.

Russo said the officer shot the dog once in the shoulder at close range and again in the neck as it ran away.



Russo said she called 911 because of a dispute she was having with her ex-boyfriend as he moved his possessions out of their home. She said she made no effort to secure Jäger before police arrived because he had no history of aggression.



"My dog loved company, that's how he was," said Russo.



Russo, who said she followed Jäger outside as he ran towards the officers, said her dog jumped on one of the officers but then sat down.



"My dog jumped on him," Russo said. "He would jump and give you kisses, that's how Jägey was."



Russo said Jäger took about two minutes to die and that police refused to shoot the animal to put it out of its misery.



Tucker said the dog did not unduly suffer. "The dog was shot twice at close range," he said.



Tucker said that given the layout of the property, which sits close to Boston Road, police were not able to see a "Beware of dog" sign that had been posted near the side entrance to the home.