Dog Shot by Deputies During Search Dies

While searching the home last week of a Carson man who is on probation for assault with a deadly weapon, sheriff’s deputies shot a dog, which died over the weekend.

Responding to an anonymous tip that Alex Gonzalez, 21, had pulled a gun on someone, seven sheriff’s deputies on Friday searched the home where Gonzalez lived with his parents and brother. Sgt. Steve Newman said that as a condition of Gonzalez’s probation they could search Gonzalez’s home at any time.

While searching for evidence that might link Gonzalez to a weapons violation, Newman said, a Rottweiler named Tyler entered the room. It looked like Tyler was going to bite, Newman said, so a deputy shot him in the head.

Family members contend that the dog was passing through the living room and that the deputy shot the dog unnecessarily while 11-year-old Osvaldo Gonzalez looked on.

Christina Gonzalez, the mother of Alex and Osvaldo, said sheriff’s officials arrived at the house with weapons drawn “ready to shoot.”

Alex Gonzalez was not home at the time. Newman said deputies collected evidence at the home.

Tyler was taken to the California Veterinary Hospital in Gardena for treatment. The dog was released on Saturday and taken to Harbor Animal Hospital in Carson where it died Sunday morning.