Lodi family, neighbors say dog's death from tasing could have been avoided

Jan. 27—Several residents on Sandpiper Circle and Finch Run came together Wednesday night to hold a candlelight vigil for a neighborhood dog that died after being tased by a Lodi police officer attempting to capture it on Tuesday afternoon.

"He just deserves justice," owner Aline Galeno said. "He didn't deserve to die that way."

According to a Wednesday night Facebook post made by the Lodi Police Department, officers received a report of an aggressive dog in the area of Sandpiper Circle at about 3:12 p.m. Tuesday.

It was reported that the dog was a loose husky and that it had chased a family with young children into their residence and was trying to bite them. The dog then tried to get through a side gate to attack a dog at the residence, police said.

When an animal services officer arrived, they witnessed a citizen using a piece of wood to block himself and his pet dog from the loose dog.

Numerous attempts were made to try to catch the dog, but were unsuccessful. The animal services officer tried to place a snare on the dog twice, but it broke free both times, police said.

When police officers arrived to help animal services, police said the dog approached a group of individuals standing in front of their residence. The officer deployed his taser, which is a less lethal device, to stun and incapacitate the dog, in order to give animal services a chance to safely secure the dog, police said.

"Unfortunately, during the incident the dog passed away," police said. "Lodi PD and Animal Services have been in contact with the dog's owners. Ultimately our officers were trying to control and secure the dog to protect the safety of the public."

Galeno's mother Anna Marquez said the family's four dogs — a Yorkshire terrier and three huskies — were able to get out of her house and into the street on Sandpiper Circle.

Marquez was able to recover the terrier, and two of the huskies returned home on their own. The third, 2-year-old Enzo, kept running, she said.

Enzo somehow made his way to Finch Run, which is located to the northwest of Sandpiper Circle.

Greg Huggins lives on Sandpiper Circle and said at no time did he see Enzo being aggressive toward any people or animals.

Huggins said Enzo was running around to neighboring houses, barking at dogs through fences, including his own.

"A lady came around the corner walking her kid home from school," he said. "She walked by us, the dog paid no attention to her, and she walked up to her front door. Her dog started barking, and (Enzo) heard that and kinda just started walking over there, checking things out."

The woman thought Enzo belonged to Huggins and asked him to retrieve the dog. When Huggins told her the dog wasn't his, she went inside and called police.

"She panicked and said it was aggressive or whatever," he said. "I don't know what she told them, but five minutes later the cops were there. The dog catcher was there, got out and said we're here to catch an aggressive dog."

Huggins said Enzo was just a couple of feet from him and that he told officers three times the dog was not aggressive.

Animal control officers used a snare pole in an attempt to capture Enzo, he said. One of the motorcycle officers attempted to block an escape route, but Enzo evaded capture and ran east, Huggins said.

He believes the dog backtracked and ended up on Finch Run.

"He showed no signs of aggression, otherwise he would have bit me," Huggins said. "I gave him water. I wanted to pet him, he was a big fluffy dog. He looked like a big love bug. If he was going to bite somebody he would have bit me, and I was there for about 40 minutes with him."

Seth Jakob Wattanbarger and Presley Quenzer had just stepped out of their home on Finch Run to leave with a friend when they saw police and animal control officers arrive to capture Enzo.

Like Huggins, they said the dog made no attempt to attack them.

"The dog came up to us and sniffed our hand," Wattanbargar said. "One of the officers told us to back away, and as soon as we backed away (the officer) just kept getting closer and closer, and tased the dog. The dog was on the ground, he went to get up and they tased him again. And they dragged him to the animal control truck."

Quenzer said she had seen Enzo in the neighborhood before. While she didn't know him or his owners well, she said he had always been friendly.

Taylor McCollum, the friend who arrived to pick up Wattanbarger and Quenzer, said she saw officers surround her car while she waited for her friends.

Then she saw Enzo, and said she wasn't sure what was happening.

"(Enzo) went around my car, and (Wattanbargar and Quenzer) came outside at that point," McCollum said. "They were about to get in and the dog (got a little closer), was sniffing them and not being violent at all or aggressive."

McCollum said one of the officers then came around her car, and the trio knew he was going to use a stun gun.

On Wednesday night, a memorial for Enzo had been placed at the northeast corner of Finch Run, with several candles on the sidewalk and a homemade collage of pictures taped to a streetlight.

Candles were also placed in the location where Enzo was tased, in front of Wattanbargar's home.

"He was a loving dog," Galeno said. "He loved everyone. We had (a lot of) grandchildren, all babies, around him all the time."