Inverness — Diane Stanley says that May 11 started as a normal day for her and her family, but around dinner time everything turned tragic.
Stanely said that her husband was outside preparing dinner with their dog Halo when the dog snuck over to their neighbor’s house, owned by Citrus County Deputy Jacob Chenoweth.
The dog then got under the fence and onto Chenoweth’s property.
Stanley said that Deputy Chenoweth had threatened many times to shoot their dog.
On May 11, as Halo tried to escape back under the fence to go home, Chenoweth shot the small dog twice in the chest while Stanley’s children looked on.
The family became hysterical.
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Stanley said that Chenoweth showed no remorse and even laughed after he shot the dog.
“My children, my husband, and myself are devastated,” Stanley wrote in a post. “How can you be so heartless to do that to a loving animal.”
A neighbor who sided with Chenoweth said the dog had been known to get out and go onto Chenoweth’s property. Even alleging that the dog bites. However, other neighbors say the dog was friendly and always wanted to play. Some said Halo could be excited but was harmless.
Stanley said that Chenoweth, through his own comments had been looking for a reason to shoot their dog.
In an email to Citrus Gazette, an unnamed source who said they used to work with Chenoweth, said he has been known to have the “I can do what I want because I’m a cop” mentality. “He has always been a smug person, but he has gotten worse as a deputy.”
Stanely called the sheriff’s office, however, she said they sided with Deputy Chenoweth.
In an email statement, Citrus County Sheriff’s Office, Community Relations Specialist, Madeline Scarborough, wrote, “A deputy with the Citrus County Sheriff’s office was dispatched on Saturday to Slate Street in Inverness in reference to a call for shots fired with a deceased canine. The responding deputy did generate a report to document the incident. However, the report is still under review at this time.”
This is not the first time a Citrus County deputy has shot and killed a dog.
In 2011, Deputy Nick Hesse shot and killed a Jack Russell that belonged to Inverness resident, Nancy Blackwell.
Blackwell was home with her two small dogs when the deputy approached her residence. The two dogs saw the deputy and ran to the screen door. When one of the Jack Russells breached the screen, the deputy backed up, drew his gun, and shot the dog dead.
The deputy, with no body camera to back up his statement, said that he felt threatened because the Jack Russell named Princess seemed aggressive and was running toward him.
At that time, Blackwell was crying and asked, “How can you be scared of a lap dog?”
In 2012, four months after the incident, Deputy Hesse was disciplined, reassigned, and ordered to undergo further training.
As for Halo, Stanley said that she wants Deputy Chenoweth to pay for his actions and is demanding change.
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