The Death of a Man’s Best Friend : Pets: Animal rights group protests deputy’s shooting of homeless man’s dog. Officers say the animal attacked.

For 2 1/2 years, Robert Uderos shared a life of homelessness on the streets of West Hollywood with his dog--and best friend--”Baby.”

“I took care of him better than I took care of myself,” said Uderos, 36. “I loved that dog more than anything in the world.”

On Sunday, as Uderos lay sleeping in a West Hollywood parking lot with his mixed-breed dog by his side, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy approached and asked him and another homeless man to move. The dog charged the deputy and was shot and killed, according to sheriff’s reports.

The shooting has prompted an outcry from animals rights activists and the dog’s owner. The group held a news conference Tuesday in front of the West Hollywood sheriff’s station and called for an investigation to determine whether the deputy should be charged with cruelty to animals. The department will conduct an investigation, sheriff’s officials said.

The dog was shot by Sheriff’s Deputy Craig Flick, who had gone to a parking lot in the 600 block of La Peer Drive in response to a complaint about suspicious activity.

When Flick ordered Uderos and a friend, Arnold Morales, to move, the dog charged him, said Deputy Charles McCarthy, who arrived at the scene within five minutes of the shooting. Flick fired three times, hitting the dog twice, McCarthy said.

“Faced with the dog running at him and confronted by the two men, there was nothing else he could do,” McCarthy said.

Chris de Rose, president of Last Chance for Animals, said his group believes that the shooting was unjustified. “From all the evidence we have gathered, this was not a case of a vicious dog attacking an officer,” said De Rose. “This was an extreme act of harassment for these two homeless men.”

The animal rights activists do not dispute that the dog charged the officer. Bill Dwyer, another animal rights activist, said the officer “should have used another means to control the animal. He should have asked (Uderos) to order his dog to stop. The shooting was callous and inhumane.”

Dwyer and other activists complained that after the shooting, the dog was left bleeding on the sidewalk for more than 25 minutes before it was taken to a nearby animal hospital. McCarthy said animal control officials were notified immediately.

Carole Ellis, chairman of the city’s business license commission, questioned whether the shooting was prompted by resentment of the homeless. “I wonder if this had been someone who wasn’t homeless, whether the officer would have been so quick to shoot his gun,” she said.

After the shooting, deputies arrested Uderos and Morales for trespassing. Uderos has been released but Morales was in custody late Tuesday.

Uderos said he is looking to get on with his life.

“I guess eventually I’ll get another dog, but not right away. There has to be some time to grieve.”