On Sunday, Kieran Gonzalez from Benque Viejo took to social media to vent his anger at the Belize Police Department for shooting his dog. Gonzalez claims that while he was away, police entered his home, killed his beloved pitbull, Saiko, and took the body without his permission. Later, they came back and arrested him. His post went viral, reminding many of an earlier incident this year when an officer was punished for shooting the Governor General’s dog, sparking a debate about police handling of animals. However, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams says Gonzalez’s story is missing some details. According to Williams, police were called to the scene after a domestic complaint against Gonzalez, who then fled. During the search, Saiko escaped from a sealed veranda and charged at the officers, who shot the dog out of fear for their safety. Here are more details on the incident.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“ The veranda was sealed off. But the dog was able to get away from the veranda and attack the police. And the police had no other choice but to shoot the dog. Having shot the dog, the young lady who is the common law of the young man, requested of the police to assist her in getting the dog from the house to take the dog to a vet. Because the dog was still alive, the dog was not dead at that particular time. And so the police, again, out of generosity, assisted her in moving the dog from there to another house where she resides and she would have taken the dog to the vet. But it so turned out that the dog ended up dying sometime around 8 a.m. yesterday morning. The young man in question, Apparently, he arrived at home after having escaped or fleeing the police. And he found out what happened. At the same time the corporal who was in charge of the banquet station at that particular time visited the house to have see if he was there and to explain to them what had transpired. But when the corporal got there, he was met with a great degree of hostility from the young man and his brother. Who, as you can see in the video, stood at the gate with machetes shouting and insulting the police in the most derogative manner. And as the corporal was saying to them, it was not me who shot the dog. And the corporal was right. He was not on that operation when the dog was shot. He just went back there to have seen what transpired. And to likewise see if the young man was there because he was wanted by the police. They’ll be charged with insulting the police and aggravated assault.”
“And had the home had there been other domestic reports from that home before?”
Chester Williams
“I believe so, and if a matter of fact, there is also a complaint from the common-law wife that the young man also stole her phone during the same domestic issue. So we’re also looking at a child of theft for him in respect of that matter. And again, I need to say, as Belizeans, we need to decide what we want, right? But when we had the incident with the Governor General, that even though the video footage, the people that the officer in question went after a dog that was not aggressing him and killed that dog. People were like, oh, it’s just a dog, it’s just a dog, and no, here we have a situation where it’s totally different. Where the dog aggressed the officers and the officers did what needed to have been done to protect themselves. The public want to vilify the police officers. We have to decide what we want. It’s still a dog likewise.”
