Family hires attorney, police turn evidence over to DA in Lodi tasing death of dog "Enzo"
LODI -- Lodi police said Monday that they have wrapped up their investigation into the police killing of a pet husky that was loose and "aggressive" in a neighborhood two weeks ago.
The dog's owners, Anna Marquez and Aline Galeno, told CBS13 the department's account of the dog being aggressive is wrong and not backed up with evidence. They hired an animal rights attorney Monday to represent them as more than $25,000 has been donated online to fund what they say will be a legal pursuit of justice for their dog, Enzo.
A video captured by a neighbor shows the moment a Lodi police officer fires a taser multiple times at a dog they were called to catch.
As the officer stuns the dog, the neighbor is heard on video crying out in shock "Oh, my God" and asking the officer why they had to tase the dog, when by this neighbor's account on the video, it was not acting aggressively.
The video shows the husky going limp after being tased multiple times. Its body is then drug to an animal control officer's car.
"That's not right. Not for a human, not for a dog," said Marquez.
Enzo's loving owners say he got out of the house by accident on January 24 and was dead hours later when they went to pick him up at animal control.
"He was never aggressive toward anybody," said Aline through tears. "He's the nicest dog ever. Seeing him like that and seeing how stiff he was. I felt his head and they had tasers on the back of his head."
The neighbor's video of their dog dying was painstaking for both Marquez and Gelano to watch, but they did.
"I was angry. I didn't want to see the rest of it. But I was like, 'I'm not going to give up on this, I'm not going to let them sweep it under the rug,' " said Gelano.
Their grief is still fresh as a memorial to Enzo sits outside their home.
"He was loyal, loving, funny. He was so special," said Gelano.
Enzo was one of four dogs the family owns. Both owners maintain he has never acted aggressively toward another dog or person. They added there have been no prior calls to Lodi police about Enzo being aggressive before this.
However, the January 24 incident began when a neighbor called animal control to catch a loose husky, that was by their account, aggressive. The neighbor and police reported that Enzo was threatening neighbors and nearby pets and "that it had chased a family, with young children, into their residence and was trying to bite them" according to Lodi Police.
His owners say it's a story they don't believe.
"There's no way. We have too many witnesses saying Enzo was not being aggressive," said Aline.
Lodi police say an animal control officer tried unsuccessfully to catch the dog twice before police backup was called and the taser was used. That choice has people locally and across the nation now criticizing this use of force.
"Not only did he tase him one time, he continued to tase him. Their intention that day, I believe, was to kill this dog," said Zohra Fahim, of the Lodi Alliance for Animals. "This was not a justified use of force, it was excessive force."
The animal advocacy group is calling for the police officers and animal control officers on the scene to be fired and held accountable.
"Including the DA filing animal cruelty charges and passing Enzo's law so this doesn't happen to another dog again," said Fahim.
Gelano echoed the same sentiment.
"I'm gonna be strong for Enzo and just keep on going," said Gelano. "I don't want this to happen again. I want to change the law for tasers being used on dogs."
Lodi Police Chief Sierra Brucia released a statement Monday to CBS13 about their investigation. It reads in full:
"Our department has completed the investigation into the circumstances that led to Enzo's death. That investigation includes witness statements, officer statements, video of Enzo prior to his death, our dispatch logs, radio traffic, and our Animal Services' logs relating to prior complaints in the area. We have provided all of this information to the San Joaquin County District Attorney's office for their review and determination of whether animal cruelty charges are warranted. After the DA's determination we will be able to provide a further update to our community with what we learned in our investigation.
An internal affairs investigation is also being conducted to determine if our employees violated any departmental policies.
We can assure our community that we take this incident seriously and that we have placed significant importance on completing this investigation quickly and thoroughly. Additionally, we have moved to bring outside vendors into the department to provide additional training in dealing with at- large animals and we have started researching other tools available for our employees' use. Thank you again for your patience as we complete this complex investigation."
Gelano and Marquez say they now plan to sue the city and the police department for Enzo's death.