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Dog owners plan to take legal action after Waco PD releases body cam footage of officer shooting dog

A Waco police official told 6 News the police officer who shot the dog will not be facing any disciplinary action.

WACO, Texas — Waco Police released body camera footage of the moments that led up to a dog being shot and another being tased. 

Waco PD was responding to a call about an active burglary on Saturday, June 3, at 3:17 p.m. It turns out that their Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system sent the officers to the wrong address, according to police.

Body camera footage shows police approaching the home. Soon after, one officer can be seen tasering one dog and a second officer can be seen shooting another one. 

One of the dog owners, Matt Vasquez, says all of this could have been avoided if police would have retreated to the correct address from the start.

"I think it was pretty clear that they were in a dogs environment," Vasquez explained. "One officer made the right choice, the other officer did not."

Waco PD spokesperson Cierra Shipley told 6 News the officer who fatally shot the dog, Finn, will not face any disciplinary actions. 

"To hear no disciplinary action, that's just them saying you deal with it. I didn't do anything wrong," Vasquez continued. 

The officer felt he was in danger and that is why he fired the gun, according to police. 

Law enforcement expert Charles Kimble explained how this is an extremely tough situation for everyone involved. Still, he hopes the public understands the difficult situation the officer was in at the time.

"He saw a dog he's never met before that dog was coming at him and he had to make some decisions," Kimble explained. "I just hope that people keep an open mind that law-enforcement are there to help people, but sometimes many things happen so quickly and unfortunate things happen."

Vasquez and his girlfriend Cassandra Page have been in contact with an attorney who says the video will likely help with pleading their case.

Their GoFundMe surpassed the $7,000 goal and they plan to use those funds for attorney fees.

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