The Laymon-Harp family from Rogers County were just heading back home after going to church, but they made a shocking discovery on their front porch. Their trusted four-footer Bruno was completely bleeding out and left for dead on their porch after he was shot.
Without hesitation, the family rushed Bruno to a veterinarian. The dog was severely hurt and a bullet hit one of his legs badly. Doctors told the family that the chances of survival for Bruno were about fifty-fifty.
Unfortunately, the family couldn’t afford to pay for the surgery required to possibly get Bruno out of the woods.
When the family saw the note that was left on their porch, they were absolutely shocked. A deputy of the Rogers County Sheriff Department shot the dog because he felt threatened by Bruno. After seeing that the dog was hurt, he left the four-footer on their front porch along with the note.
The deputy in question didn’t even call for back-up or medical assistance, he simply left Bruno to die.
Angie Laymon posted the story on her Facebook account, which quickly went viral.
“While our family was away from home there was a disturbance at a neighbor’s house which resulted in a call to Rogers County Sheriff. The deputy who answered the call decided to come over to our house, but nobody was home,” she posted.
“The deputy encountered my German Shepard and disregarded the canine warning and continued to approach the house. Upon reaching the house, he felt threatened and shot my dog. Then he taped a note to the door to inform me that he shot my dog – and he left my dog bleeding out on the porch.”
According to a statement provided by the Sheriff’s Department to KJRH, the deputy did try to reach the family to notify them of this horrible incident. Even though he tried to call Angie and her family, the man didn’t bother asking for a vet.
“The deputy had multiple options at his disposal….get back in his car, use mace, get medical care for the injured animal that was suffering. Senseless…unnecessary…avoidable. The dog was 100 yards or better in the interior of my property doing his job.”
“Thousands of people are heartsick at what has been done to Bruno. It is horrible, it is tragic, it is heartbreaking for my children to have witnessed it. But what if someone decides to take revenge? What if someone takes the name that I share and takes justice into their own hands. What if another senseless tragedy follows the first?”
“I do want Rogers County to take a good hard look at protocol and realize that pets are family members and that this should have been avoided,” she wrote. “We truly hope that this brings about change. We would like to see each and every officer of the law receive training on how to deal with pets and animals – especially when they are on private property. We want to open their eyes to know that these are not just pets – they are members of the family. We want there to be protocol on support and treatment when an officer wounds an animal – something more than leaving it on the porch to bleed out with a simple note stating the obvious.”
Because the story went viral, a GoFundMe page was quickly set up.
Within days, the family had amassed enough money via crowdfunding to proceed with the surgery.
Doctors were unable to save Bruno’s leg and were forced to amputate it. However, the most important thing is that Bruno survived and was able to get back home.
“He gets to come home. At the end of the day, leg or no leg, he will get to come home and that’s the silver lining,” Angie said to KJRH.
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