Missouri city to pay $500,000 to the owner of blind and deaf dog who was shot dead by a cop
The shooting of a five-year-old Shih Tzu in Sturgeon, Missouri set off a scandal that ultimately claimed the jobs of the cop who shot him and the mayor who defended it
A small city in Missouri will pay out $500,000 to the owner of a tiny blind and deaf dog who was shot dead by a police officer despite posing no threat.
Officials in Sturgeon, Missouri — population roughly 900, according to reports — were engulfed by outrage in May last year over the untimely end of a five-year-old Shih Tzu named Teddy. The incident led to the suspension of the cop who shot him, the resignation of the city's mayor, and even calls to disband the entire police force.
Now the city has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by Teddy's owner Nicholas Hunter, with $282,500 going to Hunter himself and the other $217,500 going to his lawyers.
"Mr. Hunter is relieved this matter is concluded, but nothing can ever bring his Teddy back," Hunter's legal team said on Friday as they announced the settlement.
"Teddy was a good dog who did not deserve this. We hope that other departments will learn from this and train their officers better in the future so events like this don’t happen again."
They also thanked the Animal Legal Defense Fund, which helped cover the costs of the lawsuit.
This is far from the first incident in which police officers have shot dogs under questionable or disputed circumstances. Other cases have been reported in Georgia, Louisiana, Colorado, and beyond.
The scandal in Sturgeon began on May 19, 2024, when Teddy slipped free of Hunter's fenced-off yard while Hunter was eating dinner and found his way onto a neighbor's property. Since police in Sturgeon are responsible for animal control, the neighbor called them for help reuniting him with his owner.
Enter city police officer Myron Woodson. Bodycam footage showed Woodson chasing Teddy around a large field for several minutes, making several unsuccessful attempts to catch him with a pole. Then, in a section of footage that was initially redacted, he shot Teddy dead.
A tremendous furore ensued, and only deepened when the city claimed in a Facebook post that Woodson had shot Teddy because he feared the dog had rabies, and that his behavior had been justified.
That claim was contradicted by video footage of a confrontation between Hunter and Woodson, in which Woodson claimed he shot Teddy because he thought he was a stray.
"I believed the dog was seriously injured and suffering," would later say in an affidavit.
"I followed and complied with the City of Sturgeon Police Department policies related to deadly force, which states that 'officers may use deadly force to destroy an animal that represents a threat to public safety or as a humanitarian measure where the animal is seriously injured'."
Amid the mounting controversy, Mayor Kevin Abrahamson initially defended Woodson but later resigned. His successor suspended Woodson, but the ALDF alleges that a promised investigation into Woodson never happened.
In court papers, Hunter's lawyers claimed the city had never properly trained its officers on how to deal with dogs, and that it later paid Woodson a $16,000 settlement for his suspension. The city argued that it was an isolated incident.
Woodson reportedly showed up twice at City Hall demanding to get his paycheck early, even though he had been banned from city property.
He ultimately resigned from the force and got a job as a process server.
The Independent has asked the Sturgeon city government for comment.
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