Ambridge Police Department facing public backlash after shooting lost dog in parking lot

AMBRIDGE – The Ambridge Police Department was swamped by a wave of online criticism after an officer shot and killed a lost dog Friday afternoon in the borough's municipal complex parking lot.

The incident occurred after police said the dog, which had been in their care since that morning, lunged at an officer as they were attempting to take her to the Beaver County Humane Society. Borough residents and community members have taken to social media, criticizing the way police handled the incident and demanding accountability for their actions.

In an update shared via the department's Facebook page on Tuesday morning, officers say that video footage and witness testimony of the incident was obtained from the incident and has been turned over to the Beaver County District Attorney for investigation.

Social media posts indicate the female mastiff was found roaming around 23rd Street and Lenz Avenue after 8 a.m. Friday. At that time, Jane Stadnik, an Ambridge resident who found the dog, was able to calmly coax the dog to her and took several photos with the animal in an attempt to identify her owner before contacting the police.

"She was really sweet, I sat with her about an hour or so after I posted her pictures on Facebook with the address in hopes someone would come looking for her," Stadnik said.

Officers said they took the dog into their care just after 9 a.m. and took her back to the station. In a post later deleted by the Ambridge Police Department, officers showed the dog riding in a police car with her head out the window and described her as a "pleasant pup."

"She decided to do a ride-a-long with Officer Turner today," the department wrote in the deleted Facebook post. "She will be hanging out with him for the next hour."

After the dog arrived at the station, officers said they were unable to identify any tags or chips to locate the dog's owner. Police said the dog was placed in a kennel for two hours and their original social media post was sent out, but during that time no calls were made to the department to claim the missing dog.

Officers said they attempted to move the dog to the Beaver County Humane Society around 11 a.m., but an unnamed officer who went to retrieve the dog described her behavior as "aggressive." When attempting to approach the dog, the officer said the dog attempted to bite their hand. As this officer began to turn and run from the dog, police said the dog bit the officer on the left knee.

The department said a second unnamed officer was called to help secure the dog, but the dog started to take an "aggressive stance and began to growl and show its teeth towards officers." At this point, police say they closed the door to avoid being bitten and gave her treats to calm her down. The two officers say they then went inside the building to form a plan to transport the dog.

When officers returned outside, they say that the dog had "somehow escaped the kennel and was running loose around the parking lot." In their post, police said the dog began to charge at one of the officers and "lunged to attack him." At this point, the officer drew his service pistol and fired it at the dog, which caused it to stop moving.

As the dog was bleeding in the parking lot, officers covered her body with pieces of cardboard. Officers said when they later uncovered the dog, it appeared to still be breathing. In its public post, the Ambridge Police Department said it contacted the Humane Society, which advised them to "put down the dog on scene," prompting officers to once again fire their service pistols at the dying dog.

The Times was unable to contact the Beaver County Humane Society to confirm this report as of Monday morning.

Meanwhile, criticism has been widespread on social media, as many residents reported seeing the traumatic interaction along one of the central roadways of the borough. Some said the shooting occurred in front of motorists, residents located near the department and staff members who were working inside the adjacent district magistrate's office. Among thousands of comments on the department's Facebook post, people have claimed the incident was handled incorrectly and caused distress to their loved ones.

Many critics have also pointed out the change in messaging between the initial social media post and the update given later that day. While the deleted post indicated the dog was "pleasant" toward officers, the update indicates the dog was acting aggressively toward officers at the police department. Officers also began to describe the dog's breed differently on social media, changing the description of the animal to a "pitbull/mastiff" rather than the original "mastiff" description.

At the time the new post was released, no owners had stepped forward to claim the dog or identify her breed. Officers say the original social media post was removed after an unidentified caller claimed to be the owner, but this individual never came to the department and several other ownership claims have been made since the incident.

Residents indicated on social media they would like to see the body-camera video of the incident, but it is unknown if the officers involved had their cameras on at the time of the incident. In a 2021 interview with The Times, representatives from the department indicated the cameras used by the department are not constantly recording and are not used during interactions with other officers.

More on local body-worn cameras: Beaver County police officers adapting cameras into their daily uniform

Due to the incident involving an animal, it's not clear if these cameras were required to be active or turned on by choice. The Ambridge Police Department has not publicly commented on whether any body-worn camera footage exists at this time.

Some residents hope the incident prompts discourse about how to reunite lost pets with family and prevent similar incidents from happening.

"We feel really awful about what happened, like we set that in motion," Stadnik said. "I obviously feel bad about what happened and hope that we as a community address how we handle strays or lost pets."

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Ambridge Police Department facing backlash after shooting lost dog