This past Monday, a little, well-trained Lab named Annie was hit by a car. I know that sounds like an everyday thing, however the story that goes with it is very disturbing.

Annie was playing at the end of her long driveway. Her pet parent, Martha Quinton, had just gotten back from a training session with her. As Martha’s daughter saw Annie go a little past the driveway, she began to call her to come inside. The next minute, a sheriff’s deputy comes flying around the corner, driving at an accelerated speed to what seemed to be like on a call of some sort. He hits Annie. Annie yelps. Martha screams our Annie’s name and begins to run toward her.

The deputy then gets out of his car and without saying a word, pulls his gun and shoots Annie dead. Even worse, he gets back in his squad car, not even saying a word and drives off, leaving behind his license plate -- which had fallen off his car -- and Annie, who has been shot dead.

Dogs get hit; it’s an everyday occurrence. However, when Martha and her daughter call 911 and report what happened to this sweet little dog that was barely a year old, they were told by the sheriff the next morning “a bad choice was made.” No apology? No reprimand?

On a side note, this dog was being trained to be a therapy dog for Martha, as her husband is quite on in age, and she needed the dog for help. As I shake my head in wonderment at the callousness of how this situation was handled, I am numb. Was it up to the deputy to kill a dog without the owner’s or a vet’s evaluation of the situation? Do officers get to just shoot at pets at will because they can?

I wonder how the sheriff’s deputy would feel if it were one of his children’s pets that this happened to. I wonder how he would feel if he knew his child saw an officer with a badge shoot a beloved pet and drive off without any explanation or expression of compassion.

Cheryl Anne Holt

Round Rock