Officer shoots, kills family’s dog in front of boy with special needs, Georgia mom says

She says the dog was behind a gate when the officer responded to a complaint about goats on her property.

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Isabel Avellaneda said she walked out on her front porch on June 14 to see a man in her yard pointing a gun at her dog, a 6-year-old Boston terrier named Allison.

Her son, Jordan, a 13-year-old with special needs, was hiding behind a tree in the front yard of the family’s home in Griffin, Georgia.

“When he shoots Allison, (Jordan) runs,” Avellaneda told Mcclatchy News. “He’s very afraid of guns.”

The dog was killed and the ordeal has been traumatic for the family, especially Jordan, who loved Allison and grew up with her since she was a puppy, Avellaneda said.

“He’s not the same boy that we had,” she said.

Avellaneda said the man who shot her dog is a former marshal for Spalding County, she said.

Spalding County Manager Steve Ledbetter, told Mcclatchy News that the county’s marshal, Smart Web, resigned on the morning of Tuesday, June 21. He was hired on Feb. 22, 2022, Ledbetter said.

He said that the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting. Spalding County is about 37 miles south of Atlanta.

Ledbetter said he couldn’t comment on the ongoing investigation, but he confirmed that Web and an animal control officer responded to Avellaneda’s house on June 14.

Web could not be reached for comment.

The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office did not return a request for comment, but a post on the office’s Facebook page said that the sheriff was investigating the shooting and asked the public not to spread misinformation about the case.

“The fact gathering process by my Investigators is still in progress right now,” the post says. “To be clear, no one is alleging anything at this moment because facts are still being gathered.”

Avellaneda said the animal control officer and the marshal went to her home that day in response to a complaint about goats she has on her property.

Her dog Allison was playing in the front yard.

Avellaneda said that after the marshal shot her dog, he told her that the animal should have been tethered.

But Avellaneda said her dog was playing behind the gate in her front yard and wasn’t on public property. She said she doesn’t believe Allison, who weighed 36 pounds, posed a threat.

“We never tied up Allison because Allison never bit anyone, and she’s never been aggressive,” she said.

Since Allison’s death, Avellaneda said her son hasn’t been able to sleep or eat well, and he doesn’t play outside like he used to.

“He just stays in his bed,” she said. “Jordan is not good.”

The loss has also been difficult for Avellaneda, who adopted Allison from a flea market when she was just 2 weeks old and fed her with a baby bottle.

“She was my sweetie baby,” she said.