To seek justice for a dog that was senselessly shot dead by an Ohio police officer in front of the dog’s terrified family, communities have banded together. Dixie was a golden retriever and lab mix that was three and a half years old. Elliott Palmer of the Lorain Police Department fired a shot that killed him.
A petition calling for Elliott’s dismissal from the force has gained widespread attention and already has more than 27,000 signatures. At the Lorain Police Department, located at 200 West Erie Avenue, a tranquil demonstration was organised in support of the adored canine. The gathering was intended to show Dixie’s family’s support in their campaign to get Elliott fired from the Lorain Police Department.
According to the petition, “The residents of the City of Lorain are requesting for Officer Elliot Palmer to be immediately relieved of his job for the shooting death of a family’s beloved dog called Dixie. After calling the dog to him and seeing her come wagging her tail, the officer shot the dog recklessly. He then shot the dog three more times as she struggled to get up. The dog was not hostile nor acting in a way that would have called for such a heinous act of brutality. Our city neither needs nor wants this kind of policing. We demand that Dixie and her family get an explanation, a solution, and justice.
Dixie’s owners insists that he was completely harmless and presented no danger, despite the fact that police claim the dog charged at the officer. According to Fox 8, the dog’s owner Tammie Kerns stated, “When he shot her the first time, she dropped, and she was trying to crawl to me and my daughter for help, and he continued shooting her.”
“I just want to make sure that this does not ever happen to another family,” Brittany Kaspirek, Tammie Kerns’ daughter, said. “He used beyond excessive force; one shot would have been totally feasible; he could have used a taser, as close as he was.”
While all the details are yet unknown, the inquiry has been sent to the Lorain Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards, according to a statement from the police. In addition, Chief McCann is collaborating with a number of independent experts who will help with and analyse the case’s facts.