Bollinger County deputy resigns after shooting pet Chihuahua

A Bollinger County sheriff's deputy has resigned after a domestic violence call ended with the fatal shooting of a pet Chihuahua.

Bollinger County Sheriff Leo McElrath said the incident occurred late in the evening Feb. 26.

Deputy Kelly Barks responded to the call and arrested a man, and then began to search the man's home.

McElrath said the deputy entered to find the man's three dogs all growling at her, one of which was a Chihuahua. He said Barks first shot the Chihuahua and exited the residence after thinking the dog had bitten her. After realizing she was not bitten, Barks entered the residence again to find the Chihuahua continuing to be aggressive so she fired a second shot. The Chihuahua then retired to its kennel when she shot a third time, killing the dog.

McElrath said after learning the details of the incident, he thought the situation could have been handled differently -- the deputy could have used another weapon like pepper spray, a stun gun, a night stick or even a small kick.

"My main concern was the use of a deadly force," he said.

McElrath said he was also upset to learn the dog was a Chihuahua, rather than a larger dog that could pose greater threat to an individual. He said Barks should not have re-entered the residence after first exiting when she believed she was bit.

"When she left the building and saw she was not injured, she could have not gone back in," he said.

McElrath said Barks' reason for re-entering the residence was to continue her search for weapons.

On Feb. 28, Barks was placed on an administrative leave while the department held an internal investigation on the incident.

On March 11, McElrath received a letter of resignation from Barks. He said he was surprised to receive the letter. McElrath said if Barks had not resigned she would have faced dismissal from the department.

The American Kennel Club website describes the Chihuahua breed as "highly intelligent and should not be underestimated even though small in size."

An adoption counselor at the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri who declined to give her name said with every dog, no matter the breed, their nature stems from the environment from which they were raised.

"It really just depends, like every other dog, how the dogs have been raised and what they're exposed to," she said. "If you invade their territory, they're going to be snippy."

She said the Chihuahua breed does not typically attack and go after people and it is unfortunate this situation occurred.

"Obviously with such a small dog the amount of damage they do isn't going to be horrific," she said. "It's sad that that happened. I wish someone who was familiar with dogs had been called to help the dog out of that situation."

McElrath said he has extended several apologies to the pet owners and the department plans to hold training exercises to learn more about weapon options and how to better handle a situation with animals.

"We're going to use it as a learning experience," he said.

Barks declined to comment about the incident.

rrolwing@semissourian

388-3654