A Green Country man is heartbroken after he says his canine was shot and killed by an off-duty Owasso police officer by their houses close to Turley.
That officer says the canine was on his property and attacking his cat.
Jeremy Geiger says his canine Buddy Boy was an 18-month-old Saint Bernard combine. He says Buddy Boy was joyful and lively and will’ve lived to be 10 or 11.
Officer Mike Denton says he loves animals and he is not out killing random dogs, he solely shot this canine to avoid wasting his cat.
Geiger had Buddy Boy for just a little greater than a yr.
He says Buddy obtained out typically however all the time got here again, till final Saturday.
“I wasn’t too involved as a result of he got here again each time, it was not a matter of if, it was when,” he mentioned.
Geiger had an Air Tag on Buddy’s collar and it began pinging in Owasso on Monday.
Geiger discovered Buddy’s collar in a dumpster behind the Owasso Police Department.
He says he went inside and Officer Mike Denton advised Jeremy that Buddy was gone.
“He mentioned thriller solved, I do know what occurred to Buddy, Buddy’s gone,” he mentioned.
Geiger mentioned Officer Denton mentioned he’d discovered Buddy in a place the place folks dump dogs, and would have known as however assumed Geiger dumped the canine.
A few days later, Tulsa County deputies advised Geiger that Officer Denton lives close by and is the one who shot Buddy.
“He had, I do not know if admitted or advised them, he relayed to them that he the truth is had shot the canine,” Geiger mentioned.
Officer Denton says he and his spouse rescue animals they usually’re taking good care of 6 dogs and 13 cats.
The officer says Buddy got here onto his property and he spent half an hour making an attempt to catch Buddy, however Buddy made a beeline for the officer’s cat and the officer thought the cat was in peril, so he needed to shoot the canine.
Denton says he was upset however gave the canine a correct burial.
Denton says Geiger insisted on having Buddy again, so the physique was returned.
Geiger needs Denton would’ve advised the reality from the start and he needs Denton held accountable.
“I haven’t got hate in my coronary heart, I do not need the person to undergo, I’m not going to hunt reprisal on his animals, I really like animals, however there should be penalties, there should be accountability,” Geiger mentioned.
The Owasso Police Department launched the next assertion:
The Owasso Police Department is conscious of an allegation made in opposition to an off-duty Owasso police officer associated to the demise of a canine in rural Tulsa County. OPD takes any allegation of officer misconduct very severely. An inner/administrative investigation has been initiated and the officer has been placed on administrative go away pending the end result of that investigation. The officer was off-duty on the time of the alleged incident and the placement the place the alleged incident occurred is exterior the City of Owasso, leading to any felony investigative efforts falling to the jurisdiction of the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.
The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office says there’s nothing felony on this case, so they aren’t investigating.
Officer Mike Denton’s lawyer launched this assertion:
Two stray dogs got here onto Mike Denton’s personal property on or about March 9, 2024. The Dentons had a number of pets – six rescue dogs and 13 rescue cats. One of these cats is now lacking. For greater than half an hour, Mike tried to catch the stray dogs. However, he was unable to take action. After that, one of many dogs – a black and white one – went after one in every of Mike’s cats. Mike tried to run off the canine, however the canine refused to pay attention. Once he was unsuccessful, Mike retrieved a weapon as a result of he didn’t need any of his animals mauled. The canine noticed one of many kittens – Bunny – and began to cost her. Mike yelled on the canine to cease. The canine wouldn’t cease so Mike was compelled to shoot him. After that, the second canine ran away.
The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) appeared into this and located that no crime had been dedicated.
Mike was heartbroken that he was compelled to do that. Afterward, he needed to spend a number of minutes regaining his composure. He then took the canine to a distant location and constructed a cairn for its burial.
