“You messed with the wrong family,” said Gloribel Albarron of Pine Ridge.
She was referring to the Bushkill community’s security force. On Saturday, a Pine Ridge security guard gunned down the family’s 10-month-old English bulldog puppy, Shaq.
It wasn’t the first time that their bulldog got loose from their yard and wandered down the street.
“He had a tendency to go exploring,” said Albarron, a police officer who was at work in New York at the time of the shooting. Her son and father-in-law noticed Shaq was missing and searched for him.
According to what Albarron has been able to piece together, the incident did not happen far away. Shaq was spotted by a homeowner, a woman who was walking down the road with a small child. The dog followed the woman who called Pine Ridge public safety.
The security guard reportedly tried to capture Shaq using a net, may have sprayed the dog with pepper spray then shot the puppy in the head. The same woman who called public safety relayed the account to Albarron.
The couple search for Shaq but ended up with no news. It prompted Albarron’s husband, Michael Albarron, to call Pine Ridge public safety and reported the dog missing.
“They said we’ll look for your dog. There was a dog that was loose – a pit bull – they said, and they shot him down,” Michael Albarron said.
He hung up, thought about it, and then called back to public safety to ask for a description. The description sounded like Shaq.
“I called my son,” Michael Albarron said, and told him, “Go down to the gate, I have a feeling they shot Shaq.’”
The dog’s body was retrieved from Pine Ridge public safety and brought home. Blooming Grove State police were called, but the family says they were told the shooting was a civil matter. State police confirmed the matter is between the Albarron family and Pine Ridge public safety and that an official report would have to come from Pine Ridge. But authorities at Pine Ridge are not talking.
At the Pine Ridge office, officials who identified themselves as the community manager and the board president refused to disclose their names. They would not say if the security guard who shot the dog is still on duty.
“We don’t know how far this thing is going to go. We can’t comment,” the community manager said.
The Albarron family has contacted an attorney and will try to pursue the shooting in court.
“This community has come to pieces,” Gloribel said. “We work hard. We don’t bother anyone. We pay our dues. They put these toy cops in here with guns.” She believes security guards should be allowed to carry Tasers or batons but not guns.
“(The security guard) doesn’t understand the pain he caused. I want justice for my dog and my family,” Gloribel said. “I just want to sell my house and get out of here.”
News courtesy of Pocono Record of Pennsylvania
2 Responses
2010 Feb 06
It would be nice if you did sell your house and move. Read the law. Section A. to be exact. It’s called a leash, use it.
3 P.S. § 459-501
Title 3 P.S. Agriculture
Chapter 8. Dogs and Cats
Dog Law
Article V. Offenses of Dogs
§ 459-501. Killing dogs; dogs as nuisances
(a) Legal to kill certain dogs.–Any person may kill any dog which he sees in the act of pursuing or wounding or killing any domestic animal, wounding or killing other dogs, cats or household pets, or pursuing, wounding or attacking human beings, whether or not such a dog bears the license tag required by the provisions of this act. There shall be no liability on such persons in damages or otherwise for such killing.
(b) Private nuisance.–Any dog that enters any field or enclosure where domestic animals are confined, provided that the enclosure is adequate for the purpose intended, shall constitute a private nuisance, and the owner or tenant of such field, or their agent or servant, may detain such dog and turn it over to the local police authority or State dog warden or employee of the department. While so detained, the dog shall be treated in a humane manner.
(c) Licensed dogs not included.–Licensed dogs, when accompanied by their owner or handler, shall not be included under the provisions of this section unless caught in the act of pursuing, wounding or killing any domestic animal, wounding or killing any dogs, cats or household pets, or pursuing, wounding or attacking human beings.
(d) Repealed by 1990, May 31, P.L. 213, No. 46, effective in 60 days. [Only subsection (d) was repealed, not the entire statute.]
2010 Feb 15
I’m sorry for your loss. But come on here, Your dog ran away alot, why didn’t you correct the problem with your fencing? Why didn’t you put the dog on a chain or something?
The dog broke the law not the security guard. And if you can’t keep control over your pet’s maybe you should not get any more.