Hazel Crest police shoot dog during search for jail escapees

December 26, 2012 (HAZEL CREST, Ill.) (WLS) -- A south suburban pet owner is facing a $50 citation after Hazel Crest police shot her dog to death during their search for a fugitive.

"He wasn't just my dog. He was my puppy son," said dog owner Chanette Weaver.

Weaver is still trying to come to terms with how it came to be that three Hazel Crest police officers shot her 6-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback Kobi to death in front of her home earlier this week.

"(The officer) said, 'M'am, he was getting ready to attack one of my officers,'" said Weaver.

Weaver says she had let Kobi out in her locked back yard minutes before the shooting.

Officers told her the dog came at them after they had been searching the next-door neighbor's yard for Kenneth Conley, the bank robber turned fugitive who escaped the MCC in the Loop last week.

Weaver says she still doesn't understand how Kobi got past the locked gate and insists that, regardless of that, officers had a choice.

"I don't understand," Weaver said. "Isn't there a protocol? Isn't there mace? Isn't there a Taser? Why would you shoot my dog, who is non-aggressive?"

Weaver says she filed a complaint, but was refused a copy.

Police have issued Weaver a $50 citation for having an animal at large.

Police have not yet responded to ABC7's requests for comment.

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local, michelle gallardo

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