Doggycide in Ashland City, Tennessee

Brandon Reed and his pitbull, Kojo

Brandon Reed of Cheatham County, Tennessee, wasn’t too worried when his pitbull, Kojo, started playing with a couple of other dogs in his yard and later followed them to their home at a neighbor’s place. It turns out he should’ve been:

When Kojo hadn't returned by Wednesday, Brandon started to worry. That's when he learned a dog in the neighborhood had been shot by Cheatham County deputies. He went to the house where that shooting happened to try to get some answers.

"She said she called the police because my dog was there and he was causing some type of trouble, or she felt threatened," Reed said.

Sheriff John Holder told NewsChannel 5 his deputies shot the dog after arriving on the scene, but said they did so because Kojo was being aggressive.

"My officers saw this dog come toward them, and my officers shot him," Sheriff Holder said. "And we'll take responsibility for shooting the dog, but we would not have shot the dog if he had not shown some kind of aggression."

It remains unclear just what sort of “trouble” and “aggression” took place, but the best is yet to come:

Reed said the news of his dog's death was hard enough to handle. Then, he received another blow when he learned what had been done with Kojo's body.

"She said, well, when the officers shot the dog, they dragged it into the woods and threw if off the bluff, which is right behind their house," he said. "There's no way I could've found it without rappelling. So I mean, I don't even know where he is, I didn't even get to bury him."

Sheriff Holder insists that his deputies would not go that far.

"We left the dog there with the people who called us, and they said they would destroy the dog, bury the dog, I think is what they said," said the sheriff.

That never happened, which is why Reed is so upset.

[…]

NewsChannel 5 spoke to the woman who called 911 on that day.

She did not want to go on camera, but told us the deputies helped them carry Kojo into the woods, and to the top of that 150-foot bluff.

She said they simply placed the body near the edge, though, and somehow, it must have rolled off.

Ah, yes. It’s quite the common practice, I hear, taking the time to drag a dead dog’s body to the edge of a cliff and then just leaving it there for no apparent reason. And it must’ve been some mischievous squirrels or something that flung the corpse down the 150-foot drop. Totally normal stuff; happens all the time.

(via @radleybalko)

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Doggycide Bingo Index

Confirmed hits:

Dead Kojo

Cop shot first

No apology given

Body thrown off a fucking cliff

Total: 4/25
Bonus points for the spectacularly callous disposal of the body. No bingo.

Tags: Kojo the pitbull • Brandon Reed • Ashland City, TN • John Holder