An off-duty FBI agent shot and killed a stranger’s dog in the city centre of Philadelphia, leaving witnesses stunned and the owner in tears. Protests have since been staged outside the FBI headquarters in the city as animal rights groups claim the shooting was “unacceptable”.
The agent pulled her gun on the dog – a pitbull named Mia – after it reportedly began attacking her smaller pup on Monday at around 8pm in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square.
Eyewitnesses in the area were left horrified by the incident sparking a protest in the area the following morning.
Some report watching the dog’s owner comfort her dying dog in its final moments.
Local Vanessa Huber told ABC: “I just heard through my AirPods a bunch of high-pitched noises and then what sounded like a gunshot.”
Mia’s owner, Maria Esser, told CBS Philadelphia: “Next thing I know there was a woman sitting on the bench with her dog and our dogs got into an altercation and her dog started barking at my dog and Mia had gotten a hold of the dog’s harness.
“By the time I went down to, ya know, get her off the harness, this woman shot my dog.”
The FBI defended the agent, identified as Jacqueline Maguire’s, decision saying that she shot an aggressive dog that had started attacking her own pet.
Revolution Philadelphia, a local animal rights organisation, released a statement condemning the off-duty agent’s actions, saying she should be held accountable for her actions.
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Founder of the group, Mansi Bhagwate, said: “I don’t understand why a firearm was drawn and a dog was killed on the street. We can’t just be taking out guns because you have access to guns.”
She added: “People just assume that pit bulls are aggressive, but in reality, they are very, very loving. Just give them a chance and obviously don’t shoot them dead.”
Following the devastating incident, Ms Esser spoke with CBS Philadelphia explaining her family’s pain over losing their beloved pet.
Her sister, Gabriella Esser, said: “We’re still trying to process and piece everything together. Mia was the most loving and loyal dog I could’ve ever asked for in my life. She was my best friend.”
Maria said she would take both Mia and her other dog, Mush, on the same walk every day, explaining that she never once had an issue with the late pitbull.
Recalling the incident, she told the paper: “The first thing she [the off-duty agent] said to me was, ‘what is wrong this you? Are you crazy? I just shot your dog’.”
Maria said her dog died in her arms in the back of a police van on the way to the vet.
The FBI, as well as Philadelphia’s Police shooting unit, are both investigating the incident and will review body camera and surveillance footage from the night of the shooting to assess what happened.
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