Phoenix man seeks answers after police shot his 2 dogs

Eric Morgan returned home Wednesday hoping that what his neighbor had called to tell him wasn’t true — that a Phoenix police officer had shot and killed his two pit bulls.

Instead, he found nothing. His dogs, 5-year-old Charlie and 2-year-old Sasha, were gone, and there was no sign that police had visited either. Two fresh, rust-colored stains, one on the driveway and one in the backyard dirt, told him whatever happened earlier probably hadn’t ended well.

“I just broke down,” he said. “Nobody was here, no paperwork. …I was like, surely somebody’s going to contact me.”

It was Morgan’s neighbors and landlord Sal Sanabria who helped him piece together the story. Sanabria told TheArizona Republic he was there after the fact: Neighbors called to alert him to the gunshots.

He said an officer explained that they were executing a search warrant.

“I just saw the dog laying in front of the house,” Sanabria said. “They said that one of the officers was bitten on the leg, and they had to put the dogs down.”

Sgt. Vince Lewis, a Phoenix police spokesman, said officers were serving two search warrants for two occupants of the home -- one a felony drug warrant and another for a misdemeanor DUI.

Lewis said the gate was open when officers approached the property, and when police announced their presence, the two dogs charged at one officer. One dog bit the left leg, the other the right.

A total of three officers fired their service weapons at the dogs, including the officer who was attacked, Lewis said. At one point one of the dogs let go of the officer's leg and turned to charge at another officer, who fired as well.

Lewis said it wasn't the first time the dogs had caused a nuisance in the neighborhood, near 10th Avenue and Buckeye Road. Officials received at least three other calls to the property in 2015 for loose animals.

Wednesday was the fifth incident this year in which Phoenix police have dispatched an animal, Lewis said.

"Obviously it’s not a pleasant situation when you have to dispatch an animal when it’s someone else’s property," he said. "It’s a situation when an officer will react to a threat, or that of a partner or community -- the force will be used to stop the attack."

But what puzzled Morgan most was the aftermath. He said he was unclear on what to do next or where to find his dogs, and the situation became more confusing after attempts to contact Phoenix police.

A friend called the department, who told him to call the Arizona Humane Society. When Morgan called the Humane Society, they told him to call the police. Finally, he said someone gave him the number of a sergeant, who gave him the number of another sergeant.

Morgan said he was instructed not to call that sergeant, who would contact him by Friday.

Morgan said he spent the next several hours searching back alleys but found nothing. After “a few beers” back at home, he took to building a makeshift memorial in his front yard.

“RIP AZ FINEST PITS,” he wrote in stones. “SASHA & CHARLIE.”

By Thursday afternoon, neighbors had gathered around the dirt yard, many adding flowers or candles.

Morgan sat on his stoop, smoking a cigarette and staring at the rust-colored stain on his driveway.

“This is what he’s been doing since yesterday, sitting there watching this spot,” said neighbor Denise McKinley.

Morgan said he doesn’t want to point the blame or give in to rumors, he just wants to give his dogs a proper burial.

“I’m lost, I’m just lost,” he said. “I don’t know why I can’t see my dogs.”