Sheriff’s deputies shoot pit bull while responding to call in rural Paso

A pit bull was shot multiple times by sheriff’s deputies who were responding to a gathering in rural Paso Robles early Saturday morning.

Marthel Rangel was in the backyard of his home in the 5400 block of Whispering Oak Way near Jardine Road early Saturday morning, barbecuing with friends and playing music. Rangel said his brother had just gone to sleep, and his nieces and nephews were all asleep in the house.

Rangel estimates that he heard gunshots at about midnight or 1 in the morning.

According to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to Rangel’s home at about 12:30 a.m. for a complaint of loud music. When they arrived, they tried to contact the residents by the front door and then noticed Hercules, Rangel’s 1-1/2-year-old pit bull, “quickly advancing,” according to a statement from the Sheriff’s Office.

According to the agency, the dog was “barking and acting in an aggressive manner and began circling around the deputies.”

“With his teeth bared, the dog then charged at one deputy and lunged at him from a distance of approximately 4 feet,” the Sheriff’s Office said. The other deputy then fired one round at the dog, but it continued to lunge at the first deputy, authorities said, causing the partner to fire three or four more rounds at the dog.

At that point, the Sheriff’s Office said, the dog retreated to the back of the property.

When Rangel heard the shots, he said his first concern was his young nieces and nephews. He ran to the front yard, where he saw two sheriff’s deputies.

“I said, ‘What’s going on? Why are you guys shooting rounds?’” Rangel said.

Rangel said didn’t realize his dog had been shot at first, because the animal didn’t bark or cry out in pain.

“I started asking questions. I found out they shot my dog, and I got very, very mad.”

Rangel said his sister-in-law told him they heard the first few knocks and then someone pounding hard on the door, but they were upstairs sleeping. Everyone else was in the backyard and didn’t hear the knocking, Rangel said.

Rangel said he thinks the deputies may have gone three or four feet away from the front door, heading toward the backyard, when they encountered his dog.

Rangel said that, from the locations of the rounds, it appeared that Hercules had been sleeping in a bush and he thinks the dog may have startled the deputies.

“The officer was never bitten,” Rangel said. “They never yelled to my dog (to) stop. They never tried to give any command. All I heard was the rounds.”

In response, the Sheriff’s Office said it “recognizes the shooting of an animal is unfortunate. However, when faced with being attacked, in many cases, it is the only recourse.

“The dog’s owner and the owner of the property were contacted, and an investigation was begun,” the Sheriff’s Office said. “We determined there was no related damage to property and the shooting was conducted in a safe manner with the deputy shooting in a downward trajectory at the dog into a grassy area.”

The Sheriff’s Office added that deputies offered to transport the dog to a veterinarian to be treated, but the owner declined.

Rangel said that the dog was shot about 4 times, with most of the wounds in his upper body. It also suffered some lacerations. Rangel said the vet told him the dog is doing well.

He said his young niece has been asking for Hercules because she “always plays with him,” Rangel said. “He’s a big puppy.”

This story was originally published November 27, 2017 at 5:41 PM with the headline "Sheriff’s deputies shoot pit bull while responding to call in rural Paso."