Baltimore Police Officer, Jeffery Bolger is facing felony charges for an act he committed on a defenseless dog who was completely under restraint. He has been taken into custody as of Wednesday. Bolger was one the responding officers that showed up after a civilian called for assistance with the dog.
The officers reponded on Saturday, June 14th, 2014 after Nila, the seven year old Shar-Pei that was on the scene, had bitten someone trying to restrain it. Sandra Fleisher, the civilian whio tried tio read her dog tag, stated that the bite was superficial. When the officers arrived on the scene, they attempted capture the dog with a broken stick and a piece of string.
Sometime after the Special Operations Section of the Baltimore Police Department arrived and took control of Nila, Bolger slashed the dog’s throat. He now faces charges of aggravated animal cruelty, because Nila was no longer a threat to anyone when he took it upon himself to murder the dog.
Nila’s owner, Sarah Gossard, stated that she did not receive any notice that her dog had even been taken into custody until after the tragedy. She found out about Nila’s death by watching a segment on the news. Gossard was outraged and was dedicated to seeing justice for her beloved pet.
Jerry Rodrigues, Baltimore’s Deputy Commissoner, issued a statement on behalf of the department. He stated that there were no procedures or any training to justify what Bolger did to Nila.