WYCKOFF— A township police officer fatally shot a dog Wednesday after going to the wrong address on a burglary call, Wyckoff Police Chief Benjamin Fox said.
Wyckoff Police received a call of a possible burglary at 3:45 p.m. at 621 Lawlins Rd.
But Officer Kyle Ferreira mistakenly went to 622 Lawlins Rd., Fox said. No one responded when he knocked on the door, so he walked around the house.
He passed through an unlocked fence gate and went to the rear of the house, where he saw an open window. Ferreira drew his service revolver. He thought the window could have been a point of entry for the reported burglary and didn’t know if any suspects were at the scene, Fox said.
At that point, “a large, growling German Shepherd lunged out of the open window, bit the officer on his right foot and latched onto his boot,” Fox said. Ferreira fired at the dog four times to get him to let go, striking him twice.
Wyckoff animal control took the dog to an animal hospital, but it died, Fox said.
No one was home during the incident, but the homeowners were notified, Fox said. They left the window open to allow the dog to let himself into and out of the home.
Ferreira was uninjured.
Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2015/04/wyckoff_cop_shoots_dog_after_going_to_wrong_house.html
Cop didn’t have to kill our dog, Wyckoff family says
Igor Vukobratovic came back from a trip to the mall Wednesday with cousins visiting from out of the country and saw police cars surrounding his house.
He immediately ran to the backyard.
Vukobratovic’s dog, Otto, was lying against a corner of the house near the grill. Blood covered the yard.
He started screaming.
“What did you do? What did you do?”
Township Police Officer Kyle Ferreira shot Otto while looking into a burglary call, Chief Benjamin Fox said. But he had the wrong house—the call came from the house across the street on Lawlins Road, not the Vukobratovic home.
Fox said Ferreira knocked when he arrived at the house.
But if that were true, said Goran Vukobratovic, Ivan’s father, Ferriera would have immediately been aware of Otto’s presence.
“If he knocked or rang the bell, the dog would bark like crazy,” he said. “That’s the threshold.”
Otto barks when anyone knocks on the door; when the mailman opens the mailbox, the family said in an interview, just hours after their family dog was pronounced dead.
Goran believes Ferreira never knocked, and that Otto ran out when he heard the gate open.
According to Fox, after knocking and hearing no response, Ferreira went through the unlocked gate and drew his gun, thinking the burglary suspects might still be at the house. Otto jumped out of a window and bit Ferreira’s foot, leading him to shoot four times, hitting the dog twice.
The family leaves the floor-level window, which leads from the living room onto their porch, open for Otto as a sort of doggy door.
The neighbors, who live across the street, went to the Wyckoff Police Department to report a possible break-in at their home prior to the shooting, Goran said. They were waiting for police to arrive when they watched Ferreira arrive at the wrong house and walk into the Vukobratovic backyard and shoot Otto.
There was no reason to expect any potential burglars to be at the house, Goran said.
“There was nothing in progress,” he said. “So this is all a little spin… If we were home the same thing [would] happen.”
The Vukobratovic family had owned Otto for five years. They bought him as soon as they closed on the house.
Otto died of the bullet wounds to his lower back and chest, Igor said. Fox called Wednesday night to discuss the shooting, but Goran didn’t want to talk or see anyone.
Igor was weighing legal action Thursday.
“I’m just looking at lawyers right now but I don’t know,” he said.
Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2015/04/owner_of_dog_shot_by_wyckoff_cop_disputes_police_a.html
Americans are sooooo accepting of this kind of behavior. If this happened in Europe or S. America, the cop knows he would probably be shot, beaten, or stoned to death.
Cops get away – literally – with murder in this country, because everyone is so afraid to fight back.
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This cop must be fired and be ordered to do community service at a local animal shelter…shoveling poop from the cages.
Notice that there was no mention of the cops going back to the actual house to see if it was burglarized. What RETARDS!
I hope the owner SUES THE HELL out of that cop and his department. They should be FORCED to donate a million dollars to the German Shepherd Rescue Society of New Jersey.
God Almighty…Protector of all that is good and holy and beautiful…save us from the two-legged IDIOTS with the badges!
“At that point, “a large, growling German Shepherd lunged out of the open window, bit the officer on his right foot and latched onto his boot,” Fox said.”
Damn shame the dog didn’t rip his throat out instead.
Would definitely have been MORE than justified.
#1, I am waiting for the day when an innocent, large dog tears one of these Pigs to pieces. I’ll throw a kegger and a BBQ and get happily drunk on my ass !
Not much for drinking these days, Clark.
But I’d make an exception for that celebration.
I’m willing to bet the dog never got near that cop. They are always changing the story to fit what they do. The poor dog can’t tell his side of the story can he?
Were is the bit boot? Need see some prof here he was bit. Officer not hurt. Strange. Kind of. Were was the boot bit? I have known many a farm dog that will run up and grab a foot. Time to stop walking up to it’s house. Cops need to develop some respect for people property. If they wish to be respected. Your on peoples property dogs know the property lines. Show respect to the property and the dog. Now I think the officer needs buy a new $100,000 dog for them out of his pay. That would put a end to such.
Where in Hell is the ASPCA huh?
They got the money what is the holdup?
Do not fund them anymore if you have done so.
So much for animal cops. They never seem to mind when cops go around abusing animals, just owners.
Hmmm, I’ve been wondering if the cop went to the wrong house on purpose for a little 5-finger shopping, which he and his crooked superiors would attribute to a burglar hitting not just one house but the neighborhood.