Marie Marseille, the 45-year-old woman whose pet Labradoodle dog was killed by a Los Angeles Police Department officer last month, sued the city of Los Angeles and several unidentified officers, alleging that the department unduly used force against Jamerson while the dog did not do anything to threaten them.The woman was screaming in joy over the New York Knicks’ recent NBA Finals win. But her neighbors thought she was in distress and called for a welfare check on the woman. The person who called 911 said the woman had been screaming ‘Oh my god’ for 20 minutes.When the officers responded to the incident, they saw the dog and fired multiple shots, and killed him.“Jameson had not bitten anyone, had not charged the officers, or done anything that would have signaled an imminent threat of serious bodily harm,” the suit mentioned. The officer who killed Jameson “fired multiple shots and killed Jameson in cold blood, without trying to calm Jameson down, or giving Plaintiff a chance to calm or quiet Jameson down,” the suit added.In body camera footage of the encounter, released last month, the two officers responding to the call at Marseille’s Canoga Park apartment can be heard fretting over the size of Jameson, a gold retriever, Saint Bernard and poodle mix. “Jeez, that’s a big a** dog,” one officer said. “I ain’t getting bit by that, bro,” the other said.Jameson’s owners said he was not an aggressive dog at all. But when Jameson ran out of the door and started barking, heading towards one officer, the officer fired his pistol multiple times, killing the dog as Jameson’s owners screamed. Jameson was also wearing a Knicks shirt.The suit accused the city and officers of failing to follow the LAPD police manual, conducting an unlawful seizure, carrying out negligent conduct and failing to properly train officers.Marseille contended that under LAPD policy, officers are authorized to use force against an animal only when the animal poses an immediate threat of injury. The policy is consistent with the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training guidelines on dog encounters, which emphasize that police officers must read canine body language to distinguish between “energetic” and “aggressive” behavior, according to the suit.“An energetic dog — one that is excited, moving, barking — is not necessarily an aggressive dog, and the distinction matters under both LAPD policy and the constitutional standard,” the suit stated.“The loss of a pet is deeply personal,” LAPD chief Jim McDonnell wrote in a statement on X last month. “For many, a dog is not simply an animal; it is a companion, a source of comfort, and a member of the family.”“This shooting makes clear that while LAPD provides officers with written guidance on the use of force and pets, this is not enough,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement after the body camera footage was released, calling the evidence “disturbing and tragic.”
