Residents Blast Police, Officials Over Investigation Into Dog's Death

Police and elected officials were blasted Wednesday for the way they’ve responded to and investigated and the shooting death of Wyckoff German shepherd last month by a township police officer.

Several North Jersey residents laid into Wyckoff officials at a council meeting Wednesday. Patrolman Kyle Ferreira shot Otto, a 5-year-old German shepherd, at the dog’s home last month while investigating what he thought was a burglary at 622 Lawlins Road.

Police said the dog jumped out of an open window and bit Ferreira on his foot, latching onto it. Ferreira responded by firing his gun four times, hitting the dog twice. The dog had to be put down at an animal hospital later on that night.

“The description of events does not add up,” Otto’s owner Goran Vukobratovic said to a round of applause. ”We cannot move forward without a true description of events. We won’t give up.”

Ferreira was at 622 Lawlins Road when he should have been at 621 investigating an attempted burglary that was reported earlier that day. A Bergen County dispatcher told Ferreira to go to 621 but the officer repeated back the address to the dispatcher as 622 and the error was not corrected.

Ferreira believed that Otto could have caused “serious bodily harm” and fired his gun four times at the dog, hitting him twice, police said. He was exonerated following an internal investigation by the police department. Investigators concluded that Ferreira told the truth when he reported what happened that day and “had a right to defend himself.”

Some people said that the way one of the bullets entered near Otto’s buttocks and came out near his shoulder. Something they said would seem to indicate the dog was shot while running away from Ferreira. 

“I’m not sure what got in the way of justice. I’ve always trusted the police and now you’ve given me a reason not to,” said Megan Stillwell, a Haledon resident who grew up in Wyckoff. “You’ve lost my trust.”

Three bullet shell casings and a fired bullet were found at the Vukobratovic’s home. Police did come and investigate the incident the night it occurred, but, Fox said in previously released statement, the “incident did not call for a ballistics or crime scene level investigation.”

“The department has set the standards by which situations like this are handled,” said Chris Gallow. “Whether it’s a shot dog or a false police report, this will happen again.”

Four police officers stood inside the council chambers during the meeting and more Wyckoff and Bergen County Police officers were outside before the during the meeting.

Protestors outside of town hall held up signs as they did two weeks ago with “Justice For Otto,” ”Family Pets Matter,” and “No More Lies” on them. Some said that Ferreira could have used non-lethal force to subdue the dog.

“It could have been prevented. It’s not right,” said Adam Smizaski. “I want to see the officer responsible dealt a penalty that equals the crime.”