Jessica Gokey, whose dog, Bella, was killed by a Lander County sheriff's deputy in April pleaded guilty to having a dog running at large and was fined $195 in the Argenta Justice Court on Aug. 25.
Gokey and her boyfriend, Jose Assumpcao, who owned the dog, were taken into custody April 28, after the shooting for having a dangerous dog running at large. Assumpcao appeared in justice court in July for the same charge and pleaded guilty as well. He was also fined $195.
Bella, the 9-month-old pit bull mix, whose owners had had her since she was a small puppy, was raised around children and had never been vicious, they said.
She was just one of three dogs belonging to Gokey and Assumpcao that showed up at Borealis Park after escaping from their yard April 28. Running with Bella were Zoey, a 1-year-old female mixed breed, and Chuko, a 2-year-old male pit bull.
Bella was shot to death with three rounds fired by Deputy Stephen Priest in front of small children, who were playing at the park, after the dog charged the deputy, Lander County Sheriff Ron Unger said.
The other dogs ran home and were not seized by law enforcement because they did not attack anyone, Unger added.
Gokey and Assumpcao said after the shooting that they were devastated over the loss of their beloved canine. They felt she should have been subdued by non-lethal force such as a Taser or pepper spray.
The couple, who were not home when the situation occurred, had no idea the dogs would escape the yard since they had just repaired the fence, Gokey said.
They moved into their rental in January and had had problems before with the fence but thought they had finally gotten it fixed, she added.
The original call that evening came in from an off duty deputy who said the dogs had him trapped in his yard near the park on Bastian Road, Unger said. The off duty deputy chased the animals away and then followed them to Borealis Park where he tried unsuccessfully to shut the gate before they slipped inside while several small children were playing.
The deputy hollered for the children to climb onto the playground equipment, which they did, Unger said, adding that the dogs were acting aggressively.
When Priest arrived on scene, the off duty deputy hollered for him to grab a shotgun, which he did before entering the park and shooting Bella as she was running toward him.
There had been nine previous incidents involving the dogs, consisting of numerous complaints such as dogs running at large, Unger said. The owners had also been cited twice in March and April for having dangerous dogs running at large.
Contact Heather Hill at h.hill@winnemuccapublishing.net.[[In-content Ad]]
