By RACHEL DAVIS

rdavis@gctelegram.com

Tequila, a black, chow-mix dog, has her life on the line.

According to Garden City police officers, Tequila charged an officer April 11 and was shot in the neck.

Her behavior toward the officer has warranted a hearing to determine if she is vicious and should be put down. The hearing, originally scheduled for Monday, is on hold so the prosecutor can meet the dog and talk to witnesses.

But her owner, Abundio Aburto, and a neighbor, Robin Calderon, defend the dog's behavior and say she is not vicious. Calderon has said the dog should not be branded as a threat to public safety for following her instinct and protecting her pups.

Tequila

Calderon had known Tequila through the Animal Hospital, 1908 E. Fulton St.

Her owner, Rachel Salazar, had boarded her at the hospital during a move to Nebraska.

At first, Tequila was to be boarded for a week, but the week turned into a month, Calderon said.

Calderon said Salazar decided not to take Tequila to Nebraska and asked Calderon to find a loving home for the dog.

Immediately Calderon thought of Abundio Aburto, whose son, Diego, had been wanting a pet.

"She's not a vicious dog," Aburto, who has owned Tequila for five months, said through an interpreter.

He said Tequila never has shown aggressive behavior even when neighbors come into the yard and play with her puppies.

"I trust her around kids -- around my own son," Aburto said. "My son has fallen asleep next to her and her puppies and she has never hurt him. She's not a dangerous dog."

The incident

On April 11, police responded to a report of a vicious dog running loose in the 1500 block of North Ninth Street.

According to Garden City police Sgt. Mike Reagle, a woman called into the Law Enforcement Center, 304 N. Ninth St., shortly before noon and reported a dog fight in the area. The woman said a chow-mix had attacked a Husky and while the fight had ended, the chow-mix, along with her four puppies, were running loose in the neighborhood.

Reagle said the woman told the dispatcher the chow-mix was vicious and gave them the address of the owner.

Two officers, one of them an officer in training, arrived at 1509 N. Ninth St., to locate the chow-mix and came across the 4-month-old puppies in the front yard.

The officer in training picked up one of the puppies, startling it, and Tequila responded to the pup's cry.

Reagle said Tequila charged the officer and was shot in the neck by the officer's partner.

The bullet grazed Tequila and she ran off, as did two of the four pups.

Reagle said another officer was called in and all three began looking for Tequila so they could get her medical attention.

One of the officers was rounding a corner when he was startled by a pup and shot it with a taser.

One barb struck the puppy in the ear while the other barb missed its mark. The puppy was not tasered, police said. In order for a Taser to be effective, both barbs must be inserted into the skin to receive a shock.

Meanwhile, inside the house, Aburto was sleeping when he was awakened by a gun shot.

He said he heard a knock on the door and when he answered it, police officers were at his doorstep.

Aburto, who knows little English, said he did not understand what had happened and waited for an interpreter to come to the house.

He said the interpreter told him officers had shot his dog and they could not find her.

Aburto said the interpreter never mentioned the attempt to taser the puppy.

He also said a female officer threatened to kill Tequila if she got loose again.

Reagle said he was not aware of the alleged threat against the owner, stating no one had filed a complaint with the police department.

However, Calderon did file a complaint April 17 against the officers, stating they used excessive force against Tequila and her puppy.

"What happened is not animal control, it's animal cruelty," she said.

Garden City Police Chief James Hawkins responded to Calderon's complaints in a letter sent April 29.

In the letter, he said the incident was investigated and there was no criminal intent on the officers' part toward the dogs.

Conflicting stories

Calderon said she found Tequila a block away from her home in an alley. She said she also found the puppy with the taser barb lodged in its ear flap and took both of them to the Animal Hospital.

Later, when she returned to the neighborhood, Calderon said she was approached by a neighbor, Nancy Carr, who said she had witnessed the dog fight.

Calderon said Carr informed her that Tequila and the puppies were on Aburto's property but outside the fence when a Husky came over and began playing with a pup.

Calderon said that Carr told her that the puppy yelped and Tequila responded by attacking the Husky.

Calderon said that according to Carr's account, the Husky retreated to its yard and Tequila and her pups went back into their yard where they rested near the porch.

Calderon said Carr told her she did not know who called the fight in and was surprised that Tequila had been shot.

However, Monday outside the hearing to determine if Tequila was vicious and should be destroyed, Garden City Prosecutor Kara Schartz read parts of the police report about the incident to Calderon and Aburto.

According to the report that Schartz read, Carr reported the fight to police and told them Tequila was vicious and tried to bite her.

Carr refused to comment to The Telegram on what she saw or reported to police.

Schartz requested a continuance Monday so she could speak with Carr about the conflicting stories she made to Calderon and to police and meet and observe Tequila.

The next hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. May 12.

Tequila continues to reside at the Animal Hospital, and her pups are at home with Aburto.

Up to the judge

If the judge decides Tequila is vicious, she will be euthanized. If the judge decides the dog is not a threat, the original owner must claim the dog or surrender it to its current owner.

Gerald Gibson, a Montezuma veterinarian, said a mom dog charging a stranger is not unusual behavior, especially if the person is in the dog's territory.

"It's normal behavior for a mom dog to be protective of her puppies," he said. "It's normal behavior for any dog to protect its domain against someone that doesn't belong there."

Reagle said the officer acted accordingly and thought he was protecting his partner against a charging dog.

He also said it is not uncommon for police officers to shoot dogs they think pose a threat to officer safety or to the public, but the firearm is used as a last resort.