CALIFORNIA CITY, Calif. (KERO) — Ana the dog is expected to make a full recovery after having surgery to remove a bullet on Thursday. She was shot by a Cal City police officer on March 11.
- Ana the dog walks back into her yard and sniffs her own blood that remains on the ground.
- Raymond Cote, the dog owner, thanks the community for donating to help with Ana's surgery.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
This is Ana. You remember her.
She is back home after surgery to remove a bullet from her neck.
I'm Steve Virgen... your Cal City neighborhood reporter.
The dog was shot by a police officer on March 11th... as she continues recovery.
Virgen: “To see her interact with your kids, what was that like?”
“Amazing. But sad too. As you can see we haven’t been able to get all the blood off the ground. We’re having a difficult time getting the blood off the ground. We’ve tried everything," said Raymond Cote, Ana’s owner
Ana had surgery in Woodland Hills on Thursday and arrived back in Cal City on Friday.
The owner, Raymond Cote, said a fragment of the bullet remains in part of her neck but will eventually fall out, and that she is expected to make a full recovery.
Cody is grateful for the support he’s received.
“Thank you to each and every person who donated. Who shared the post. Who reached out and said thank you,” Cote said.
Cal City police officer Miguel Rivera shot Ana when the dog broke loose outside her home and charged at him.
Cal City Police Chief Jesse Hightower released a statement on Wednesday night... determining the shooting involving his officer was "within department policy.”
Hightower says police were called to Cote’s home on a welfare check involving a juvenile, in addition to a possible domestic disturbance.
The CCPD released the body cam video of the shooting the day after.
Cote said he believes a gun should not have been used. ana is familiar with another officer, Joshua Flores, who was with Rivera, and was running to him, Cote said.
He says Ana is loving... she will be recovering and receiving therapy, he added.
“We have to keep her mellow because the bullet, they found out as they were pulling it out, did, which actually makes it more of a miracle that she survived, did knick her artery. So they had to do a little repair on her artery. So this is why we have to keep her calm and keep her away from people and other dogs so that she doesn’t get excited. Because she just wants to play all the time,” Cote said.
Chief Hightower told me the department followed protocol and is moving on from the incident.
He also referred me to police policy - 3-08.7.3... regarding destruction of animals.
It reads... “members are authorized to use firearms to stop an animal in circumstances where the animal reasonably appears to pose an imminent threat to human safety, and alternative methods are not reasonably available or would likely be ineffective.
...
In circumstances where there is sufficient advance notice that a potentially dangerous animal may be encountered, department Members should develop reasonable contingency plans for dealing with animal if circumstances reasonably dictate that a contingency plans has failed, becomes impractical, or if the animal reasonably appears to pose an imminent threat to human safety.”
I've requested the full video and the CCPD said they expect to release it.
Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere:
