Rules In Dixmoor Village Code Conflicts With Officer Shooting, Killing Loose Dogs, As Owners Say Happened

DIXMOOR, Ill. (CBS) -- You saw the stories first on CBS 2 – multiple dogs have been shot and killed in south suburban Dixmoor for being off the leash.

On Thursday night, CBS 2 continued to investigate one officer's track record of shooting and killing dogs. CBS 2's Tara Molina also finally got some answers from village officials.

After CBS 2 waited more than a month, the Village of Dixmoor handed over its policy on unleashed dogs. The policy does not say an unleashed dog will be shot and killed.

Brandi Quinn's dog, Cocoa, was shot and killed by a police officer. Months ago, she asked for the policy about loose dogs.

"My dog was never deemed vicious," she said.

Dixmoor police Officer Marquise Day shot and killed the 10-year-old dog on the street outside Quinn's house. Police records indicate that Day killed four dogs in total, and described them all as unleashed and aggressive.

"He says: 'I'll kill them. If your dog's loose, I'm killing it,'" Quinn said.

But it doesn't say that in the code.

Dixmoor code requires dogs to be on a leash. But nothing says a dog that's loose will be shot and killed by police if an officer believes it could be dangerous.

Lenora Hunt claims her dog was killed by police.

"He fired the shots from the car," she said.

Laura Wilson also claims her dog was also killed by police.

"He told me, if he sees a pit bull running loose – any dog running loose - his job is to kill them," Wilson said.

The village's ordinance goes on to define a vicious dog.

It says for a dog to be called vicious, a community service officer has to investigate the dog – and then the dog can be impounded if the owner isn't known. The owner can also decide to have a hearing.

If the dog is found to be vicious, the owner has to follow a specific set of rules. If the owner fails to do so, then, the policy says, "the animal control warden may order the impoundment and destruction of a vicious dog."

Quinn said Officer Day did not inform her of the village's policy, and she was never at any kind of hearing that determined her dog to be vicious. She said her dog had been impounded in the past, but not in Dixmoor.

"I was only told that if my dog was loose, it would be killed," she said.

CBS 2 has requested interviews from village officials, and of course the police chief, more than once. Still, on Thursday night, those requests have never been addressed.