![[CREDIT: GoFundme.com] The owners of Mia and Peanut, shot by a WPD officer Aug. 15 after one of them reportedly bit a person at the Buttonwoods CVS, have created a fundraiser in memory to Handsome Dan's dog shelter.](https://warwickpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Warwick-Mia-Peanut-Shot.png)
Warwick Police ask on their Facebook page for anyone who witnessed or may have recorded video of the dogs during the attack or their time loose in the area to contact them to aid in their investigation into Officer Jeremy Smith’s use of his firearm against the three dogs at 150 Keeley Ave.
Warwick Police received a call at about 8:32 a.m. Aug. 15 reporting that three large dogs were roaming loose in the area of 198 Buttonwoods Ave. As officers were responding to the scene, they learned that one of the three dogs was reported to have bitten the person who had called police.
The video posted by Warwick Police from inside the CVS shows the dogs running inside the store from an apparently open door into an employee/storage area. One of the dogs pauses to jump at a woman as she backs into the doorway, apparently catching her clothing in its mouth. It is unclear from the video if the woman was injured by the dog in the process.
A short time later, Officer Jeremy Smith located the dogs at 150 Keeley Ave., according to Warwick Police. Smith shot the dogs after they charged him while he attempted to retrieve tools to catch the animals from his car, according to Warwick Police.
A bystander posted video of two officers standing over one of the dogs after the shooting. The person speaking in the video observes the dog is still breathing, but the officers do not move to aid the animal during the video, which lasts for nearly a minute.
Tiffany Fletcher, who owns the dogs, Mia and Peanut, has posted a GoFundme page to raise donations to Handsome Dan’s dog rescue in RI in memory of her dogs. In a Facebook video post. Fletcher questioned the need to kill the dogs. Mia was shot once or twice and died right away, she said, and Peanut was shot four times but took 40 minutes to die, she said.
In the video, Fletcher said, the officers, were, “Standing over her and talking like nothing had happened.”
Fletcher said her dogs were not vicious and didn’t do anything wrong, besides roam the neighborhood off-leash, which she apologized for.
Andy Lucini, also an owner of the dogs, said a family member who had been trying to round up the dogs was kept away from them by a Warwick officer as Peanut was shot. Lucini and Fletcher say Peanut was shot while running away from the officers.
Fletcher and Lucini asked the person reportedly bitten by the dogs to contact them so they can hear what happened directly from that person.
Warwick Police ask anyone who witnessed these dogs that day in the neighborhood to contact them, “As we continue to work on the case’s timeline.” Police ask anyone with photos or videos of any of the events Aug. 15 to contact the Warwick Police Department at 401-468-4200.
Author: Rob Borkowski
Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at [email protected] with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.
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