Santa Ana family outraged after police shoot dog upon responding to disturbance call

A Santa Ana family is outraged after their beloved dog was fatally shot by police when they responded to reports of a disturbance at their home on last week. 

Police said that they were called to the home, located in the 2000 block of Orange Avenue, at around 8:30 p.m. on July 30 for a family disturbance call, according to the Santa Ana Police Department. 

They said that upon arrival, one of the two responding officers was attacked by the dog, which prompted the officer to open fire. Police claimed that they could not find the dog's owner, so they took it to a veterinary hospital in stable condition.

Family members refute this, claiming that their beloved Belgian Malinois named Max, was struck by gunfire multiple times. They said that he was only barking but that he did not attack either of the officers.

"Max collapsed and as soon as I seen that ... I was like, 'Stop treating Max like that, let him go that's my dog,'" said Luz Vega, Max's owner. "I did tell them that I was the owner, they didn't even pay attention to me they just ignored what I was saying and they were dragging Max by the neck, like with a stick to put him inside the car."

On top of that, Vega says that they had to call around to several Orange County veterinarians to find out where Max was taken. By the time they found him, they were told that the injuries he suffered were substantial and eventually family members had to decide to euthanize him. 

Neither of the officers were injured in the incident. The Santa Ana Police Department says they are still investigating.