LODI, Calif. — The investigation surrounding a dog tased to death by a Lodi police officer is making its way to the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office to see if charges are warranted.
On Monday, Lodi Police Department announced that the investigation into the death of three-year-old husky Enzo was finished, and that all information was being provided to the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office.
The District Attorney will decide whether animal cruelty charges are warranted, and following that decision, police said they will provide another update with what they learned in the investigation.
Police said they are also doing an internal affairs investigation to determine whether their employees violated any departmental policies.
"We can assure our community that we take this incident seriously and that we have placed significant importance on completing this investigation quickly and thoroughly. Additionally, we have moved to bring outside vendors into the department to provide additional training in dealing with at- large animals and we have started researching other tools available for our employees’ use," said Lodi Police Department in a Facebook post.
Case History
According to the Lodi Police Department, on Jan. 24, officers received calls of a dog chasing and attempting to bite a family with young children. Enzo allegedly followed the family to their home on Sandpiper Circle.
The dog ended up interacting with police and animal services on Finch Run and Robin Lane, several blocks from the call location, where officials say they saw a person using a piece of wood to block himself and his pet from the dog.
Officials said an Animal Services officer tried using a snare twice, but the dog broke loose both times. That is when officers responded to help with the situation.
"At this time the aggressive dog approached a group of individuals that were standing out front of their residence and the officer deployed his taser, which is a less lethal device, to stun and incapacitate the dog, in order to give our Animal Services officer the opportunity to safely secure the dog," Lodi Police Department said in a Facebook post.
The dog died after being tased.
In surveillance video images obtained from neighbors, the dog is tased twice before being dragged to an animal services vehicle.
Some neighbors in the area have said the tasing was unnecessary. Another neighbor said a dog in a pack killed her cat last October, but Enzo's owner said it wasn't any of her dogs.
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