The Denver district attorney’s office will not prosecute a police officer who shot and killed a dog on the loose two weeks ago in northwest Denver.
The DA’s office concluded that a 2-year-old yellow Labrador retriever named Rocky had lunged at Officer Michael Felsoci on Sept. 8 and that he was justified in shooting it.
Felsoci shot the dog in the mouth as it lunged at him, then shot it again in the back after it turned and ran away, said DA spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough.
She said the investigation showed that Rocky earlier had attacked a man in the neighborhood, which prompted an emergency call to police and animal control. The alleged victim was never identified.
The dog’s owner, Katrina Mudgett, said Rocky had never been in trouble before and said the dog lived peacefully with her and her 5-year-old daughter. A neighbor, 68-year-old Seferino Quintana, said the dog ran away from Felsoci but that Felsoci chased it while shooting it twice.
