COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A Cobb County man says he is demanding answers after he claims a sheriff’s deputy shot and killed his service dog in his yard while deputies were serving an arrest warrant.
The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office says the dog charged at deputies, prompting one deputy to fire their weapon. But the dog’s owner, Calvin Willis, disputes that account and says he wants to see the body camera footage from the incident.
Willis filed a complaint against the sheriff’s office. The agency says its Internal Affairs division is investigating.
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“I said Fi get back over here,” Willis said, recalling the moments before the shooting.
Seconds later, Willis says he heard a gunshot.
“I got to the edge of the pain of the glass, I heard a pop,” he said.
Willis said the incident happened Wednesday afternoon on Forest Hill Road while he and his 3-year-old dog, Fifi, were in their carport.
“You just killed my dog. You killed my best friend. You killed my child,” Willis said.
Willis said they were sitting in the carport when Fifi noticed something was wrong.
“She was over there eating and drinking her water. She looked up, and I knew there was something that wasn’t supposed to be there,” Willis said.
According to the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were at the home attempting to serve an arrest warrant when the dog charged at them. Officials said a deputy then shot the dog.
Willis said that is not what happened.
“I saw her take her last breath right here,” Willis said.
He said Fifi never charged at deputies and claims they did not announce themselves before entering the property.
“They decided to come around the back way instead of the front like they normally do, I guess to arrest the guy they were looking for, who we’ve told several times that guy does not live here,” Willis said.
Willis said he suffers from brain trauma, PTSD and memory loss, and Fifi helped him navigate those challenges.
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“If I get lost or get confused, I say home and she brings me home,” Willis said. “If I fall, which I do, she knows to get up under my head to keep my neck from hitting the ground. If I pass out, she can hit that medical alert button and get me help.”
He said Fifi was not just a pet, she was his service dog, trained through the nonprofit Healing for Heroes.
Willis said Fifi had more than 8,000 hours of training.
Piper Hill, the CEO of Healing4Heroes, said Fifi was one of the organization’s best-trained dogs.
“She was a really good dog. I have over 2000 service dogs, and she was the top three, probably top two out of all of our service dogs,” Hill said.
The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office disputes that Fifi was a service dog.
Healing for Heroes showed Channel 2’s Eryn Rogers video of Fifi during her training.
Willis said he now has a service vest with no dog to wear it, serving as a difficult reminder of what happened.
“It’s painful, just the thought of not having her,” Willis said.
Willis said he wants to review the sheriff’s office policies and procedures for handling situations involving animals because he does not believe deadly force was necessary.
He also said he has hired an attorney.
The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office says the investigation remains ongoing.
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