SALT LAKE CITY — A man whose dog was shot by police last year is being hindered by Utah state law from seeking legal recourse.

Sean Kendall’s dog, a two-year-old Weimaraner named Geist, was shot and killed by Salt Lake City Police Officer Brett Olsen on June 18. Olsen was reportedly looking for a missing boy when he trespassed onto Kendall’s property, alarming his dog. When the dog responded to the intruder, rather than backing away, Officer Olsen fatally shot him.

Kendall intends to file a lawsuit against Salt Lake City and Olsen for killing his unarmed pet, but faces a serious hurdle in the form of a Utah state law that requires him to first post a bond to cover attorney fees and court costs for the officer he intends to sue.

Utah state law 78B-3-104 reads:

(1) A person may not file an action against a law enforcement officer acting within the scope of the officer’s official duties unless the person has posted a bond in an amount determined by the court.
(2) The bond shall cover all estimated costs and attorney fees the officer may be expected to incur in defending the action, in the event the officer prevails.
(3) The prevailing party shall recover from the losing party all costs and attorney fees allowed by the court.
(4) In the event the plaintiff prevails, the official bond of the officer shall be liable for the plaintiff’s costs and attorney fees.

Rocky Anderson, Kendall’s attorney and former Salt Lake City mayor, feels the law contributes to state corruption.

“It severely undermines the rule of law while letting abusive law-enforcement officers off the hook for their violations of the state constitution and other state legal protections,” said Anderson.

Anderson says Kendall does not have enough money to pay for the bond, which could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in this case, as it would likely drag on for months, accruing huge attorney’s fees.

Kendall previously refused a $10,000 settlement from Salt Lake City, indicating a need for justice.

“It would be like, ‘For $10,000 you can break into my backyard and kill my dog,’ That’s not right,” said Kendall.

A video of Kendall’s interaction with Salt Lake City police shortly after they shot his dog is available below:

Zoey, the Stancil family’s pet, was shot and killed by police

SAN FRANCISCO — A police officer shot and killed a dog Sunday after responding to a child mistakenly dialing 911.

A child had been playing with a telephone and accidentally contacted emergency dispatch. Police arrived at the child’s home and encountered a dog, which they shot six times.

The dog’s owner, Jeffery Stancil, says he believes the officer’s conduct was unnecessary. Stancil’s dog, Zoey, was in the family’s back yard when police officers walked onto the property. Stancil says Zoey bit an officer when they did not back down, but believes it could have been handled differently.

“Six shots for a dog? I mean, what can you say?” said Stancil.

Madonna Stancil also takes issue with the actions of the officers. “I understand that they were doing their job … but the fact that they didn’t give us a chance to put her in safety, you know, and we did say ‘stop, we’ll get her,’ they didn’t give us the chance,” she said.

The officer who shot the dog reportedly went to the hospital to treat a dog bite to his hand.

The officers have not been charged with a crime for killing the Stancil family’s pet. The family said they are considering filing a lawsuit.

ODESSA, Texas — Police have been looking for a fugitive charged with nonviolent crimes for nearly three months, and managed to make their way onto private property on two separate occasions to shoot two dogs.

Austin Dawson, 33, is wanted for violating probation sentenced to him for public intoxication, and for possession of a controlled substance.

Police have been searching for Dawson since at least March 25, when police made their way onto private property and set off a house alarm. NewsWest9 reported:

“He came charging through the door so we backed up and he kept coming in coming in and he was probably a foot away and I had to ******* shoot him,” an unknown Odessa Police Officer said on dash cam audio.

Naturally, the dogs owner, Cory Brooks, disagreed with the cops’ decision to come onto his property and shoot his dog. “I don’t think you should use lethal force on a dog. Why do you have to shoot at a dog four times?”

Fortunately the dog, a pitbull named Smoke, survived the attack. The same fate may not be in store for the dog shot and placed in critical condition several months later by US Marshals, still looking for the same man.

An Odessa police press release from Wednesday gives their version of events:

“While on scene, a U.S. Marshal deputy shot at a dog after it came towards them in an aggressive manner. No arrests were made and no other force was used during the incident.”

The dog’s owner tells a different story, however.

“My dog didn’t bark at [law enforcement officials],” Anthony McDowell told NewsWest 9. “Not one time. Didn’t even go charge him.”

McDowell says his dog, Spot, had been a beloved member of his family for years, and that is still in critical condition as of Wednesday night.

Neighbors, who witnessed police shooting the dog, claimed the Marshal shot him “at least four times.”

“I watched it, I seen it and I couldn’t believe it,” said neighbor Christopher Cavanaugh. “We want to feel like everybody else, like we’re protected by the police, not harassed by them.”

Despite shooting two dogs on two separate occasions over the span of nearly three months, while searching for a man wanted for nonviolent “crimes,” Austin Dawson has not been found and remains “at large.”

The cop who fatally shot a Wyckoff family’s 5-year-old German shepherd was also involved in an alleged 2010 police chase in Newark that ended when the police car he was driving fatally struck a domestic violence suspect.

The cop, Kyle Ferreira, was not charged or indicted in the Newark case, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said Wednesday. And Wyckoff Police Chief Benjamin Fox said that the department knew about the incident when he was hired in February 2012.

Newark agreed to settle a civil lawsuit related to the incident for $350,000, according to federal court documents. Ferreira was among 160 Newark police officers who were laid off in late November 2010 because of budget cuts, an attorney for Newark said.

Fox said that the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office had cleared Ferreira of any criminal wrongdoing in the case and that it was “simply ruled an accident.” He said that Wyckoff authorities were “aware of it, and we investigated it.”

Katharine Carter, a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, said prosecutors had presented the case to a grand jury, which found “no cause for action” against Ferreira. “In essence, his actions were deemed to be justified,” Carter said.

The police car Ferreira was driving allegedly hit 32-year-old Rahjon Chambers about 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 6, 2010, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court. Chambers, who was unarmed, had fled in a car when police responded to a “domestic violence allegation,” according to court papers. The car later crashed. Chambers then got out of the car and was subsequently “struck and killed” by Ferreira’s police car, the suit said.

Last year, the court approved a $350,000 settlement that Newark officials agreed to pay to Chambers’ six children and a brother, whom he was supporting, according to records. While attorneys involved in the case on both sides said it had been settled, the case appears to still be open, according to available records.

On April 29, Ferreira fatally shot a dog, named Otto, on Law­lins Road in Wyckoff while investigating a reported burglary at the wrong address. The Vukobratovic family, which owns the dog, has asked the township to investigate the shooting. However, the family said on Wednesday that the 2010 incident involving Ferreira had nothing to do with Otto’s death.

“People are going crazy about this, but I don’t really care,” Igor Vukobratovic, 25, said Wednesday afternoon. “Whatever happened before is in the past.”

Wyckoff Mayor Kevin Rooney declined to comment Wednesday about whether the Township Committee knew about the Newark case when Ferreira was hired. Rooney referred all questions to Fox.

Separate lawsuits against Ferreira and Newark by Chambers’ family members had been filed in 2011 and 2012 but were later consolidated into one case, according to court records. Family and friends of Chambers began a “Justice for Rahjon” petition on change.org.

A federal magistrate judge, Cathy L. Waldor, approved a settlement last February and said in a hearing on April 30, 2014, that she was “satisfied that it adequately protects the interest of the children, based on the allegations in the complaint,” according to a transcript.

Chambers’ six children, who were between 3 and 17 years old at the time, were slated to receive a little less than $40,000 each after expenses, according to the documents. His brother, who had turned 18, was to get less than $10,000.

The information comes on the heels of a Township Committee meeting on Tuesday night that was preceded by impassioned protests by supporters of the Vuko­bra­to­vics. During the meeting at Wyckoff Town Hall, Rooney said there was an ongoing police investigation, and he’d requested a detective from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office to assist in the investigation. The township also asked for assistance from the state attorney general.

It has not been disputed that Ferreira went to the wrong address. Dispatched to 621 Lawlins Road about 3:45 p.m. on April 29 to investigate a reported burglary, he misheard the dispatcher and went to 622 instead, Fox said.

When no one at 622 Lawlins answered the front door, Ferreira went into the back yard through an unlocked fence gate, Fox said. There, he saw an open window that he thought might be the burglar’s point of entry. Fox said that Ferreira drew his weapon just before a “large, growling” German shepherd came through the ground-level window and attacked him, biting and latching onto his right boot.

Ferreira fired four times, police said, twice hitting Otto. Ferreira wasn’t injured, but Fox said Ferreira’s boot bears minor damage from the attack. Otto was brought to the Oradell Animal Hospital, where he later died.

The Vukobratovics say neighbors who witnessed the shooting have told them that things unfolded differently than the police version.

The owner of a German shepherd shot dead by a police officer announced Friday that he launched an online fundraiser to pay for possible legal action against the department and to cover medical bills for the animal.

Igor Vukobratovic’s dog, Otto, was killed by township Police Officer Kyle Ferreira, who was checking a reported burglary, according to authorities. Ferreira, however, responded to the wrong house and shot the 5-year-old family pet when police said the dog bit the officer’s foot.

“We’re going to be completely transparent about the costs – anything that is not needed by the family will be donated to local animal shelters and related charities,” a message on Vukobratovic’s GoFundMe fundraising website said.

The effort has so far collected $2,065 of its $7,500 goal, according to the site.

“It is clear the Wyckoff Police Department [is] not interested in taking responsibility for their actions and there is no recourse for the Vukobratovic’s outside of seeking legal counsel,” a post on the site said. “Though the Vukobratovic’s are determined to seek damages, there is no guarantee they will be compensated for their losses for quite some time.”

Ferreira responded to a reported break-in on Lawlins Road, but accidently went to the Vukobratovic’s house across the street, police said.

The officer knocked when he arrived at the house and got no response before he went through an unlocked gate and pulled his gun, thinking burglars could still be at the home, according to Chief of Police Benjamin Fox. Otto jumped out of a window and bit the officer, leading him to fire four shots.

Ferreira hit the animal twice, the chief said.

Goran Vukobratovic, Igor’s father, previously told NJ Advance Media that he doubted the police account. Otto would have immediately started barking if the officer knocked, he said.

In an interview Thursday, Fox said the officer was “extremely distraught” over the incident and had a right to defend himself from a possibly dangerous animal.

The department was continuing to investigate the shooting and search for witnesses, he added.