Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OGDEN — An Ogden family said they were grieving and searching for answers after a neighbor shot and killed their dog.
Joshua Barton and his wife, Jessica Pennington, said their Rottweiler Kovu hasn't been the same since his buddy, Kratos the pit bull, was shot and killed Sunday.
Kovu could be seen on their doorbell camera, running up to the front door to apparently try and get inside.
"The video shows that he was truly scared. He's just been moping around," Pennington said.
Pennington and Barton said it's what happened just moments before that has them really concerned.
An Ogden family is searching for answers after their dog was shot and killed in their neighbor's yard. Video on their doorbell camera indicates that it apparently happened just seconds after their dogs got out. Story on @KSL5TV in just a few minutes. pic.twitter.com/HceOmK5WZR
— Mike Anderson (@mikeandersonKSL) June 1, 2021
Their back gate had somehow come open — possibly in the wind. In the far corner of their surveillance video, you can see Kratos walking to the house two doors down.
Roughly eight to nine seconds later, a single gunshot is heard.
"We went downstairs to check on the dogs, and only (Kovu) came back inside," Pennington said. "So, we went running around the neighborhood, looking for our other dog for almost 10 minutes."
Barton eventually spotted Kratos lying in his neighbor's backyard.
Ogden police officers arrived shortly after.
"Eight seconds is kind of a quick time to react to shoot a dog," Barton said. "What if our daughter let him out and chased him into their back yard, and he tried to shoot the dog and hit our kid or someone else's kid?"
Barton and Pennington wonder how things could have gone wrong so quickly.
They said Kratos had never been aggressive and was well known by people in the neighborhood.
They also said they were not familiar with the neighbors who live where the shooting happened.
Ogden police said the neighbors reported being in their backyard when the pit bull came running over. One of them ran inside to grab his gun before shooting.
"Our kid keeps asking, 'Where's Kratos? Where's Kratos?' And it's like the hardest thing in the world," Pennington said. "How do you explain to your 2-year-old that her best friend's not coming home?"
Lt. Brian Eynon with the Ogden Police Department told KSL-TV that Utah law does allow a homeowner to shoot a dog that comes onto their property in self-defense.
KSL-TV did reach out to the neighbors who live where the shooting occurred and left a message but had not heard back at publication time.
